LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

£ 



Shelf _J3l4l 

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



THE EPISTLE OF PAUL 



TO THE 



GALATIANS 



New York, February, iSSr. 

Dear Sir : 

I beg you to accept a complimentary copy of my Commentary on the 
Galatians, in advance of its publication. 

Believe me, very truly yours, 

PHILIP SCHAFF. 




THE 



EPISTLE OF PAUL 



TO THE 



GALATIANS. 



EXPLAINED BY 

PHILIP SCHAFF, D. D., 

Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature in the Union Theological Seminary at New York. 



[to be published in vol. iii. of " schaff's illustrated 
Popular Commentary."] 



NEW YORK: 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. 






Copyright, 1881, 
By Chari.es Scribner's Sons. 



The Riverside Press, Cambridge : 
Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company. 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Introduction 1-8 

§ i. The Galatians i 

§ 2. Conversion of the Galatians 2 

§ 3. Occasion of the Epistle 3 

§ 4. Objects and Contents 4 

§ 5. Time and Place of Composition 5 

§ 6. Character and Value of the Epistle 6 

§ 7. Genuineness 7 

Commentary 9-66 

Special Discussions : — 

1. The Conversion of Paul (ch. i. 15, 16) 17 

2. Paul's Journeys to' Jerusalem (ch. ii. 1) 18 

3. Relation of Paul to the Apostles of the Circumcision (ch. ii. 1-10) 22, 23 

4. The Controversy of Paul and Peter at Antioch (ch. ii. 11-14) . 28-30 

5. The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (ch. ii. 16, 17) . . . 30, 31 

6. The Mediator (ch. iii. 20) 38, 39 

7. Paul's Thorn in the Flesh (ch. iv. 13-15) 47-51 

8. Allegorical and Typical Interpretation (ch. iv. 21-32) . . . 54-56 



PREFACE. 



The Epistle to the Galatians is an inspired vindication of the independent au- 
thority and the free gospel of the Apostle of the Gentiles against his Judaizing 
opponents. It gives the deepest inside view into the fermentation and commotion 
of the primitive church. It reveals, in clearer and stronger colors than any other 
book of the New Testament, both the difference and the harmony among the Apos- 
tles ; a difference ignored by the old orthodoxy which saw only the harmony, and 
exaggerated by modern skepticism which denies the harmony. It anticipates, in 
grand fundamental outlines, a conflict which is renewed from time to time in the 
history of the church. It is the great charter of Christian liberty, and the Gibral- 
tar of evangelical Protestantism. Under this banner the Reformers fought and tri- 
umphed against the legal and ceremonial bondage of the papacy which reproduced, 
on a larger scale and in the name of St. Peter, the errors and intrigues of the Juda- 
izing party of the Apostolic age. At the same time the Epistle contains the key-note 
of a final Irenicon of all doctrinal and ritualistic controversies, in the sentence : " In 
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcisionj but faith 
working through love " (v. 6) ; " Neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircum- 
cision, but a new creature. And as many as shall walk by this rule, peace be upon 
them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (vi. 16). 

It is my duty and privilege to explain this and other books of the Bible to my 
students. Twenty years ago I published two chapters of this Commentary, as a 
specimen of the " Popular Commentary on the New Testament," of which it now 
forms a part. The plan, the translation, and the comments are substantially the 
same, but revised and improved, with the aid of ancient and modern commenta- 
tors, and with reference to the historical and critical controversies which cluster 
around the second chapter of this Epistle as related to the fifteenth chapter of the 
Acts. I am especially indebted to Meyer (5th and 6th editions), Wieseler, Ellicott, 
and Lightfoot. Nor would I forget the stimulating and suggestive value of the 
critical labors of Baur, Hilgenfeld, and Holsten, although I widely differ from them. 

The popular aim forbids lengthy comments, but the more difficult problems of 
the Epistle are discussed in brief essays which will make the English reader ac- 
quainted with some of the most important topics of controversy in the history of the 
Apostolic age. 

PHILIP SCHAFF. 
New York (Union Theological Seminary), January, 1881. 



THE 

EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



INTRODUCTION. 



§ i. The Galatians. § 2. The Conversion of the Galatians. § 3. Occasion of the 
Epistle. § 4. Object and Contents. § 5. Time and Place of Composition. § 6. Char- 
acter and Value of the Epistle. § 7. Genuineness. 

§ 1. The Galatians. 

GALATIA or Gallo-Gr^cia was a mountainous but fertile province in the 
interior of Asia Minor. It had its name from the Gallic or Celtic tribes 
which inhabited it. 1 Their ancestors, on invitation of Nicomedes, king of Bi- 
thynia, had come from the left banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, and, in company 
with a small number of Germans, settled in Asia about 280 before Christ. 2 This 
was a backward movement in the migration of nations, which usually follows the 
westward course of the sun, but is occasionally repulsed or voluntarily recedes. 
In Galatia these emigrants from Gaul mingled with Greeks, 3 and acquired their 
language, but retained the partial use of their vernacular tongue, which resembled 
the Germanic (or Celtic) dialect of the region of Treves on the Moselle, as^spoken 
in the fourth century. 4 They were the terror and scourge of Asia Minor, but after 

1 Galatians, Gauls, Celts, are often used synonymously by ancient writers. The Scotch Highland- 
ers still call their own country Galatia (Gaeldachd), the land of the Gauls (Gaels). So says Dr. 
MacGregor, who is a native of the Scotch Highlands, Com. on Galat. (Edinb. 1879), p. 14. Jerome 
derives the name of the Galatians from the whiteness of their complexion (ydxa.), described by 
Virgil. 

2 The Germani cisrhenani, on the left side of the Rhine, were sometimes included among the Gauls. 
The names of the leaders of the Asiatic expedition, Lutarius (the Saxon Luther, the French Lo- 
thaire) and Leonnorius, seem to be German ; but the majority of the Galatian proper names and word 
endings are Celtic. See Lightfoot, Com., Excursus I. In the controversy as to the Germanic or 
Celtic nationality of the Galatians, the advocates of the Celtic origin have the best of the argument. 
More accurately speaking, they were, as indicated above, prevailingly Celtic, with a slight mixture of 
Teutons. So the Celtic French and Irish are mixed with some Teutonic and Norman blood, while 
the Scotch are more Teutonic (Anglo-Saxon) than Celtic or Gaelic. Luther first hinted at the Ger- 
manic origin of the Galatians, and reads the Germans of his day a lesson for their inconstancy and 
fickleness in the cause of the Reformation. But this fault is father characteristic of the Gauls, as 
described by the ancients and confirmed by history. 

3 Hence the name Gallo-Grceci and Gallo-Grtzcia. 

i According to Jerome (d. 419), who was a good linguist and spent some time both at Treves and 
afterwards in Galatia. His testimony that the native tongue of the Galatians was 'almost identical 
with that of the Treveri ' (Introd. to his Com. on Galat.) is the chief argument in favor of the Germanic 
origin of the Galatians advocated by Wieseler and others. But to the Greek and Roman writers the 
German and the Celtic languages were alike barbarous and unknown, and it is quite probable that 



2 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

a hundred years of warlike independence they were forced to acknowledge the 
sovereignty of the Romans (b. c. 187), and their country was finally made a prov- 
ince of the empire under Augustus (b. c. 25). 

The principal cities of the province were Ancyra (declared the capital by Augus- 
tus), Tavium, and Pessinus. Their commerce attracted many Jews. Ancyra was 
famous for its goat's-hair manufactures, and for the great historical marble tablets 
which Augustus had erected there. Pessinus was the centre of the gorgeous and 
sensuous Phrygian worship of Cybele, the goddess of the earth. In these places 
were, no doubt, the most important of the congregations to which the Epistle is 
addressed. 

The Galatians were the first of the Celtic and Germanic races to whom the gos- 
pel was preached. They are described by the ancient writers as a frank, warlike, 
impetuous, intelligent, and impressible, but unsteady, quarrelsome, vain, and osten- 
tatious people. It is astonishing how national traits perpetuate themselves for 
centuries. In both their good and bad qualities and 'the fatal gift of fascination ' 
the ancient Galatians and Gauls strongly resemble the modern French. 

Under this generous, impulsive, but changeable character the Galatians appear in 
the Epistle of St. Paul. They received him first with enthusiastic joy and kindness, 
but suffered themselves soon to be misled by false teachers. 1 They were, like all 
the Celts, ' excessive in their devotion to external observances ' (as Cassar describes 
them). Their former religion was a gross superstition, with a wild, mystic ceremo- 
nial, hideous mutilations, revolting cruelty, and slavish obedience to priestly author- 
ity. They were emancipated from this bondage by Paul, but as quickly fell away 
from his pure and spiritual teaching, and embraced another showy, ceremonial, and 
hierarchical religion, which resembled their old notions and habits. They exchanged 
a heathen form of ritualism for a Judaizing form, and returned to the ' weak and 
beggarly elements ' and a new ' yoke of bondage.' In the second and third centu- 
ries Galatia was a hot-bed of Gnostic heresies and Montanist fanaticism. Gregory 
of Nazianzen denounces ' the folly of the Galatians, who abound in many impious 
sects.' 

§ 2. Conversion of the Galatians. 

St. Paul came first to Galatia during his second great missionary journey, about 
the year 51, accompanied by Silas and Timothy, and planted the seed of Christian- 
ity throughout the province. (Acts xvi. 6 ; comp. Gal. i. 6-8 ; iv. 4-13 ff.) He was 
at that time suffering from bodily infirmity (Gal. iv. 13), in consequence of much 
fatigue, persecution, manual labor for his support, and that mysterious affliction 
which he calls a ' thorn in the flesh ' (2 Cor. xii. 7). But the grace of God dwelling 
in him overcame all these obstacles, and revealed its own purity and power all the 
more strikingly by its contrast with the weakness of nature. The excitable hearts 
of the Galatians were carried away. They received the Apostle who manifested 
such zeal and devotion in spite of sickness and pain, as an angel of God, yea, even 
as Jesus Christ himself, and felt so grateful and happy that they were ready, if 
possible, to sacrifice their own eyes for the good of the Apostle and the unspeak- 
able gift of the gospel (Gal. iv. 14, 15). This enthusiastic devotion must have 

both were spoken on the Rhine, and to some extent in Galatia, if the emigration was mixed. Half a 
century before Jerome visited Treves a colony of German Franks had settled in the neighborhood 
and gradually displaced the Celtic language, but this must have required a good many years. 

1 So the Reformation started with the fairest prospects in France, and ascended the throne in the 
person of Henry IV., but was almost crushed out of existence under Louis XIV. 



INTRODUCTION. 3 

been one of his most cheering experiences Hence, also, his deep grief when he 
heard soon afterwards of their apostasy to a false gospel. 

On his third great missionary journey (a. d. 54 or 55) Paul paid a second visit 
to Galatia, and confirmed the congregations in the Christian faith (Acts xviii. 23). 

The majority of these congregations were, no doubt, converts from heathenism. 
This appears from chap. iv. 8, 9, where their former condition is described as one 
of ignorance concerning God, and as a service of false or unreal gods ; also from 
the remark (vi. 12), that the Judaizing errorists constrained them to be circum- 
cised, which implies that they were not circumcised before. (Compare i. 16 ; ii. 9 ; 
iv. 12 ; v. 23 ; vi. 12, 13.) 

At the same time a number of Galatian converts were originally Jews. This ap- 
pears from Gal. ii. 15 ff. ; iii. 13, 23-25 ; iv. 3, where the apostle, as a Jewish 
Christian, speaks of himself and his readers in a common plural. This explains 
the frequent allusions of the Epistle to the Old Testament, and the allegorical in- 
terpretation of Sara and Hagar (chap. iv. 21-31). According to Josephus, the 
Jews were numerous in Ancyra. 

The congregations of Galatia were, therefore, like all the churches founded by 
Paul, of a mixed, yet predominantly Gentile-Christian character. It was his prac- 
tice to preach the gospel first in the synagogue, and then to the Gentiles, whom he 
reached through the medium of 'the proselytes of the gate,' i. e., the 'God-fearing' 
Gentiles or uncircumcised semi-Jews ; for these frequently attended the Jewish 
worship, adopted the monotheism and the Messianic hopes, and were unconsciously 
in search of Christianity, groping in the dark after the 'unknown God,' whom 
Paul preached. 

The visit of St. Paul to Britain is a pious fancy based on an erroneous interpre- 
tation of the ' end of the West,' which he reached in his missionary tours, according 
to Clement of Rome, but which must either be Rome or Spain (comp. Rom. xv. 24). 
It is not impossible, however, as Dr. Lightfoot suggests, that some of Paul's Gala- 
tian converts, visiting the far West to barter the hair-cloths of their native land, 
may have first preached the gospel to the Britons in their kindred language. Yet 
it is more likely that Christianity reached Britain first from the nearer Gaul and 
Italy in the second century. 

§ 3. Occasion of the Epistle. 

The Epistle was occasioned by the agitations of the Judaizing legalists and for- 
malists, who taught the necessity of circumcision for salvation (v. 2., n, 12; 
12 ff.), and assailed the apostolic authority of Paul, the great champion of the doc- 
trine of salvation by free grace without the works of the law (i. 1, n; ii. 14) 
They maintained that he lacked at least one essential qualification for an apostle 
having never enjoyed the personal intercourse of Christ on earth, and that he stood 
in an anomalous position, outside of the regular college of the original twelve. 
They probably called in question the sincerity of his conversion, and could not 
forget that he was once a savage persecutor. They regarded him as a dangerous 
radical and revolutionist, who upset the divinely revealed law and endangered the 
purity and order of the Church. 1 Their Christianity was in all its essential features 
identical with the Jewish system, except the belief in the Messiahship of Jesus. 

1 This animosity against Paul was perpetuated among the Ebionites, a Judaizing Christian sect 
of the early Church. Among modern sects the Swedenborgians have a strong prejudice against 
Paul, and reject his epistles. 



4 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

It was simply an improvement of the law of Moses. It could never have con- 
verted the world. It would have excluded the noblest of the Gentiles and included 
the meanest of the Jews. But their error fell in very naturally with the hereditary 
prejudices of the Jewish converts, especially those of the strict Pharisaic school. 
They appealed with great apparent force to the letter of the Old Testament, which 
enjoins circumcision unconditionally upon all male members of Israel ; to the prac- 
tice of the Christian congregation at Jerusalem, which adhered to the Mosaic ritual 
as long as the congregation consisted exclusively of converted Jews; and to the 
authority of Peter and James, who, however, had taken more liberal ground since 
the vision at Joppa and the conversion of Cornelius (Acts x. and xi). 

These errorists were defeated in the Council of Jerusalem (Acts xv.), which had 
decided that faith in Jesus Christ was sufficient for salvation, but they were not 
convinced, and continued their mischievous work in nearly all the congregations of 
Paul. They followed him step by step, and tried to undermine his authority and 
influence. They sneaked into his folds during his absence, and intimidated his 
defenseless sheep. They reaped where they had not sown. In Galatia they were 
particularly bold, and succeeded so well among the inexperienced converts that the 
majority of them for the time being fell away from the liberty, of the gospel to the 
bondage of the law, and ended in the flesh after having begun in the Spirit. Their 
ceremonial worship captivated the Celtic imagination and emotional temperament 
more than the spiritual simplicity of Paul's rational service. They told the Gala- 
tians that they were only half converted ; that they did not yet belong to the church 
of the true apostolic succession, and had not received the full title-deed to salva- 
tion ; that they must be circumcised and observe the whole Mosaic law in order 
to insure their salvation. (Comp. i. 6 ; iii. i, 3 ; iv. 9, 21 ; v. 2, 7.) 

The apostasy took place shortly after the second visit of Paul in Galatia (i. 6, 
'I marvel that you are so soon removed'). But the false teachers had probably 
begun their agitation before, since passages like i. 9 ; v. 3 ; iv. 16, seem to allude 
to previous personal warnings of the Apostle against the same error. 

We need not be surprised in the least at these disturbances. The same spirit of 
bigotry and exclusiveness reappears again and again in various forms. Sometimes 
it insists on a particular dogma, at other times on a form of government, or mode 
of worship, or a particular rite and ceremony, as being necessary to salvation. It 
springs from the selfishness of the human heart, which would like all other people 
to conform to us rather than that we should conform to them, or let them have their 
own ways and work out their own mission. This intolerant spirit is responsible 
for all the religious persecutions which form the darkest chapter in the history of 
Christianity, and which are by no means confined to one church or sect. Nearly 
every sect has at one time of its history been persecuting according to the extent of 
its power and opportunity. We must all the more be thankful to the great Apostle 
of the Gentiles for his bold and noble defense of the gospel of freedom. 

§ 4. Object and Contents. 
The object of the Epistle, accordingly, was both apologetic and polemic. It is 
a personal and a doctrinal self-defense, and a refutation of the Judaizing heresy 
which had. to be once for all uprooted. To this are added appropriate exhorta- 
tions. The address and salutation, with some remarks on the Galatian defection 
(i. 1-6), introduces the discussion, and an autographic exhortation and benediction 
concludes it. 



INTRODUCTION. 5 

The first part (i. i to ii. 14 or 21) is historical and personal, or autobio- 
graphical, giving a resume of the Apostle's career, partly confirmatory, partly 
supplementary to the narrative of the Acts (chap, xv.), and justifying his office 
and authority from the direct call of Christ, the revelation of the gospel doctrine 
made to him, and the testimony of the other Apostles during the Council of Jeru- 
salem. 

The second part is doctrinal and polemical (chap. ii. 15 to iv. 31). Others 
begin the second part with chap. iii. 1. Paul vindicates and expounds the free 
gospel salvation by a living faith in Christ, in opposition to the slavish and carnal 
legalism and ceremonialism of the false teachers who would virtually substitute 
Moses for Christ. 

The third part is practical or hortatory (chaps, v. and vi.). Paul urges the 
Galatians to hold fast to the Christian liberty, yet without abusing it, to study love, 
unity, humility, forbearance, and concludes with a benediction. 

The main divisions are clear enough. Yet the Epistle is so lively and fervent 
that narrative, argument, and exhortation are to some extent blended together. 

We do not know the effect of the Epistle upon the Galatians. Paul never visited 
them again, but his thoughts and words still live and burn throughout Chris- 
tendom. 

§ 5. Time and Place of Composition. 

The Epistle must have been written after the Apostolic Council, a. d. 50, since 
this is alluded to in chapter ii. 1 ff., and after the year 51, when Paul paid his 
first visit to Galatia (Acts xvi. 6). The passage (Gal. iv. 13), ' Ye know how 
through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first ' (former 
time), points to a still later date, as it seems to presuppose a second personal visit, 
the one mentioned in Acts xviii. 23, which took place A. d. 54 or 55. 

On the other hand, however, the words ' so soon ' (i. 6) forbid us to bring the 
composition down much later than 56. 

To the same result we are led by a comparison of Galatians with Second Co- 
rinthians and Romans, which bear such a strong resemblance that they must be 
assigned to the same period in the life of Paul. The Second Epistle to the Co- 
rinthians reveals a similar commotion of feeling, and was written from Macedonia, 
on the way to Corinth, in the summer of 57 ; the Epistle to the Romans discusses 
the same doctrines, but more calmly, fully, and maturely, and we know it to have 
been composed at Corinth shortly before his last journey to Jerusalem, early in the 
year 58. Consequently, we may with some degree of certainty place Galatians in 
the year 56 or 57, either before or shortly after Second Corinthians, at all events 
before Romans. (Comp. § 6.) 

As to the place of writing, we are pointed either to Ephesus, whither Paul pro- 
ceeded after his second visit to Galatia, and where he tarried nearly three years, 
from 54-57 (Acts xix. 1-10), or to Corinth, where he spent part of the winter 
from 57 to 58, or (with Lightfoot and Sanday) to some place on the journey from 
Macedonia to Corinth. Ephesus is preferable, as Paul had more time there and 
was nearer the Galatians. At all events, the Epistle was written soon after the 
apostasy and under the first fresh impressions of the sad news. 1 

1 The common subscription, 'written from Rome'' (in our English version), which is no part of the 
original text, cannot be supported by any external or internal argument, and has, therefore, long 
since been given up by the best commentators as the mistake of a transcriber. 



6 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

§ 6. The Character and Value of the Epistle. 

The Epistle to the Galatians is the Magna Charta and bulwark of evangelical 
liberty against all forms of ancient and modern legalism, ceremonialism, and tradi- ■ 
tionalism. It is a declaration of independence, 'written in jets of flame,' a mani- 
festo of emancipation from the yoke of spiritual bondage. It is a mighty plea for 
the doctrine of the free grace of God in Christ Jesus, as the only and all-sufficient 
ground of our salvation ; of justification by faith in distinction from all external 
works and rites ; and of the direct relation of the believer to Christ without inter- 
vening obstacles. Tertullian, who had something of the bold and fervid spirit of 
Paul, calls Galatians ' the principal Epistle against Judaism.' 

Our Epistle was written in the agony of battle, and smells of powder. It burns 
with holy indignation, not against the persons of his opponents, whom he never 
mentions by name, but against their false doctrine and mean, intriguing conduct. 
It is impetuous and overpowering, and yet affectionate and warning in tone. It 
strikes like lightning every projecting point that approaches its path, and yet, unde- 
layed by these zigzag deflections, instantaneously attains the goal. Every verse 
breathes the spirit of the great and free Apostle of the Gentiles. His earnestness 
and mildness, his severity and love, his vehemence and tenderness, his depth and 
simplicity, his commanding authority and sincere humility, are here vividly brought 
before us in fresh and bold outlines. How severe and intimidating is the anath- 
ema (i. 8, 9), how sharp and cutting the reproof (iii. 1-4) ! But nothing, on the 
other hand, can be more touchingly affectionate than his reference to the love and 
gratitude which the Galatians bore to him (iv. 12-15), ar >d the assurance of his 
anxiety to be present with his ' little children,' of whom he says he was again in 
travail until Christ be formed in them (iv. 18-20). 

The Epistle to the Galatians, as already remarked, bears a striking resemblance 
to the Epistle to the Romans, not only in particular passages, but in the whole scope 
and tenor. 1 No two Epistles of Paul are so much alike except Ephesians and Co- 
lossians. Both discuss the same doctrines of sin and grace, of the law and the 
gospel, of the free salvation of Christ, of justification by faith without works. But 
they differ in the mode of treatment and the state of mind from which they pro- 
ceed. Galatians is a rapid sketch, a fresh and fervent emotional utterance of those 
great truths in their bold elementary outlines ; Romans is a calm and systematic 
elaboration of the same truths. The former is all aglow with polemic fervor and 
personal sympathy; the latter is composed in a serene and peaceful frame of mind, 
and is. free of censure and complaint, since Paul had at that time no personal 
knowledge of the Roman Christians and could not call them his children. Gala- 
tians may be compared to a fierce mountain torrent in continuous rush over the 
precipices ; Romans to a majestic river in a boundless prairie. ' To the Galatians ' 
(says Bishop Lightfoot) 'the Apostle flashes out in indignant remonstrance the 
first eager thoughts kindled by the zeal for the gospel, striking suddenly against a 
stubborn form of Judaism. To the Romans he writes at leisure, under no pressure 
of circumstances, in the face of no direct antagonism, explaining, completing, ex- 
tending the teaching of the earlier letter, by giving it a double edge directed against 

1 Comp. Gal. iii. 6-12 with Rom. iv. 3, 10, 11, 17, 23 ; iii. 21 : Gal. iii. 22 with Rom. xi. 32 : Gal. 
iv. 5, 6, 7 with Rom. viii. 14-17 : Gal. ii. 16 with Rom. iii. 20 : Gal. ii. 19 with Rom. vi. 8, 11 : Gal. v. 
14 with Rom. xiii. 8-10 : Gal. v. 16 with Rom. viii. 4 : Gal. v. 17 with Rom. vii. 23, 25 : Gal. vi. I 
with Rom. xv. I. 



INTRODUCTION. 7 

Jew and Gentile alike. The matter which in the one Epistle is personal and frag- 
mentary, elicited by the special needs of an individual church, is in the other gen- 
eralized and arranged so as to form a comprehensive and systematic treatise.' 

It is remarkable that these two most evangelical Epistles should have been writ- 
ten to the representatives of those races — the Latin and the Celtic — which have 
shown the strongest bent towards that Judaizing type of Christianity which is 
therein condemned and refuted. 

Our Epistle resembles also the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, not in the sub- 
ject treated of, but in the intense personality, in the excited state of feeling, the 
deep commotion of heart, and the polemic tone towards the false apostles. 1 This 
similarity was already observed by a commentator in the fifth century (Theodore of 
Mopsueste), and has been well expressed by a modern commentator (Dr. Jewett) 
in these words : ' In both Epistles there is the same sensitiveness in the Apostle to 
the behavior of his converts to himself, the same earnestness about the points of 
difference, the same remembrance of his " infirmity " while he was yet with them, 
the same consciousness of the precarious basis on which his own authority rested 
in the existing state of the two churches. In both there is a greater display of his 
own feelings than in any other portion of his writings, a deeper contrast of inward 
exaltation and outward suffering, more of personal entreaty, a greater readiness to 
impart himself.' 

The doctrinal meaning and significance of the Epistle to the Galatians, as well 
as that of the Epistle to the Romans, was not fully appreciated till the time of the 
Reformation. In the hands of Luther and Calvin it became a powerful weapon 
against the Judaizers of their age, who wished to entangle the Church again in the 
yoke of bondage, and who made salvation depend upon all sorts of outward ob- 
servances rather than a living faith in Jesus Christ. 2 

In this Epistle we have to this day the divine right and divine seal of genuine 
evangelical Protestantism against Romanism as far as this is a revival of Judaism, 
and denies to the Christian man that liberty 'wherewith Christ hath made us free.' 
But it is also, at the same time, an earnest protest against all pseudo-Protestant- 
ism, that would abuse the evangelical freedom and pervert it into antinomian licen- 
tiousness, which is the worst kind of slavery. For only 

' He is a freeman whom the Truth makes free. 
And all are slaves beside.' 

§ 7. Genuineness. 

The external or historical evidence for the Pauline authorship of this Epistle is 
not so strong as the evidence for the genuineness of the Gospels, because it was 

1 Comp. Gal. i. 6-9 with 2 Cor. ix. 3-7 : Gal. ii. 6 with 2 Cor. xii. 11 : Gal. ii. 20 with 2 Cor. v. 15 : 
Gal. iv. 13, 14 with 2 Cor. xii. 7-9 : Gal. iv. 17 with 2 Cor. xi. 2 : Gal. v. 15 with 2 Cor. xi. 20 : Gal. 
v. 20, 21 with 2 Cor. xii. 20, 21 : Gal. vi. 1 with 2 Cor. ii. 7 : Gal. vi. 4 with 2 Cor. xiii. 5 : Gal. vi. 8 
with 2 Cor. ix. 6 : Gal. vi. 15 with 2 Cor. v. 17. 

2 Luther, who in his genius and experience was more Pauline than any of the fathers and reformers 
(not excepting Tertullian and Augustine), prized Galatians above all other epistles, and called it his 
Catharina von Bora. ' The Epistle to the Galatians,' he says, ' is my Epistle. I have betrothed my- 
self to it : it is my wife.' His commentary on Galatians is one of his best works, but it is not 
so much an exposition as a free expansion and polemical application of its ideas to the errors of his 
day, especially the Anabaptists and the legalism of the Roman church. It also reveals by contrast 
the great superiority of an inspired apostle over an enlightened teacher. St. Paul never indulges in 
personalities, and his polemic zeal never degenerates into ferocity and coarseness. 



8 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

less frequently used. The allusions to it in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers 
at the close of the first and beginning of the second centuries are somewhat indefi- 
nite and uncertain. But after the middle of the second century it is freely quoted 
by Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and other fathers. All the manu- 
scripts and versions ascribe it to St. Paul ; and Eusebius counts it among the 
homologoumena, or the universally recognized books of the New Testament. It 
was also used by early heretics, especially by the Gnostic Marcion (about 150), 
who included it in his canon as the first of Paul's Epistles, and made it (like the 
Tubingen Gnostics) the chief basis of his protest against what he regarded as 
the Judaizing books of the New Testament. 

The internal evidence for the authorship of Paul is so strong that no sane divine 
has ever denied or even doubted it. If there is any genuine document of Paulinism 
in existence, it is the Epistle to the Galatians. Its marked individuality places it 
beyond the reach of imitation. It is as unmistakable as the Lutheranism of Lu- 
ther's commentary on it. The thoughts and style of the Epistle from beginning to 
end are thoroughly characteristic of Paul, and in full harmony with all we know 
about his life and doctrine* and the history of the apostolic age. There is no man 
in the early church who could have written such an original, vigorous, profound, 
and authoritative vindication of the gospel of freedom against Judaizing error but 
the great Apostle of the Gentiles, whose name it bears, and of whose personality it 
is a full-length portrait. 1 

1 It was left to a half-crazy hypercritic of the nineteenth century (Bruno Bauer, Kritik der Paulin. 
Briefc, 1850) to stultify himself by declaring that the Epistle to the Galatians is a confused compila- 
tion from the Epistles to the Romans and Corinthians. His arguments are not worth refuting. Dr. 
F. Chr. Baur, of Tubingen (d. i860), the boldest and most learned of modern skeptics, left the Gala- 
tians, together with the Romans and Corinthians, untouched, as being beyond all controversy genuine 
productions of the Apostle Paul. 



CHAPTER I. 

Contents : I. Address and Apostolic Greeting, vers. 1-5 ; II. Expression of Astonish- 
ment at the Apostasy of the Galatians, and Solemn Protest against every Per- 
version of the Gospel, vers. 6-10; III. The Apostolical Call and Authority of 
Paul, vers. 11-24. 

Address and Greetiiig. 
Chapter I. 1-5. 

The very address reveals the occasion of the Epistle, the commotion and fervor of Paul, and the 
weightiness of his subject : (1) by the emphasis laid on his independent apostolic office and dignity, 
which had been called in question by the Judaizing errorists ; (2) by the reference to the atoning death 
of Christ, which the Galatians practically undervalued in their legalistic tendency; and (3) by the 
doxology (ver. 5), which indicates his fervent zeal for the glory of God in opposition to every over 
valuation of human works. 



1 pAl 

-t Je 



fesus Christ, 1 and God the Father, c who raised him from ^im.T 1* 

2 the dead), 2 and all d the brethren which 3 are with me, e unto the c a^h. 3 ** 
churches 4 of Galatia : 5 d fcS? i: 

3 f Grace be Q to you, and peace, from God the Father, and from 7 ^fcor. \. H 

4 our Lord Jesus Christ, 3 who gave himself for our sins, that he^^fR ^- v . 
might deliver us A from 8 this 9 present evil world, 10 according to \\; Tlt ' u " 

5 the will of God and our Father, 11 'to whom be glory 12 for ever 72 ^xviTn; 
and ever. 13 Amen. » Rom. J? 36! 

1 not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ 

2 omit parenthesis 3 who 4 or congregations 

5 put period after Galatia, and begin a new sentence with Grace 

6 o?nit be 7 omit from 8 out of 9 the 

10 Lit., age u or, our God and Father 12 is the glory 

13 Lit., unto the ages of the ages 

Ver. 1 contains the text of the first two chap- whom Paul did not belong. He represented the 
ters : namely, the divine mission and independent independent apostolate of the Gentiles. — Not 
apostolic authority of Paul, which the Judaizers from men, nor through man. Paul's apostleship 
denied, but which is clearly proved by the follow- is entirely independent of human agency, direct 
ing narrative and the testimony of the older Apos- or indirect. The preposition ' from ' denotes the 
ties themselves. Ver. 4 implies the theme of the origin or fountain, the preposition 'through ' the 
second part, chaps, iii. and iv., namely, a defense instrumentality or channel. The singular ' through 
of the doctrine of free grace in Christ. — An, Apos- man ' (any man whatever) makes the exclusion of 
tie, lit., viessenger ; here in the highest sense : one human agency stronger, and forms a contrast to 
of the special messengers of Christ and witnesses the following through Jesus Christ, who is more 
of his resurrection who were (1 ) directly called by than a man. ' Through ' includes here for brev- 
him, (2) inspired by the Holy Spirit, and hence ity's sake both the nearer instrumental and the 
infallible in their religious teaching, and (3) com- more remote originating source of authority. Paul 
missioned to all nations ; hence the founders and was called at his conversion on the way to Da- 
authoritative teachers of the whole church in all mascus, when the risen and ascended Saviour 
ages. See note on Rom. i. 1. The Judaizers appeared to him personally (Acts ix. 15). The 
confined the apostolic dignity to the Twelve, to Apostles are both 'from Christ' and 'through 



IO 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



[Chap. I. 1-5. 



Christ;' their disciples (and all regular teachers 
of the church) are 'from' Christ, but 'through 
man ; ' the false teachers are ' from men ' and 
' through man,' or self-constituted intruders with- 
out any authority from Christ. Paul's call was 
just as direct as that of the Twelve ; but the 
Judaizers, in their tendency to overrate external 
forms and secondary causes, laid great stress upon 
the personal intercourse with Christ in the days 
of his flesh, and hence they were disposed either 
to declare Paul a pseudo-apostle, or at least to 
subordinate him to the Twelve, especially to Peter 
and James. — And God the Father. The imme- 
diate and frequent coordination of Christ with 
God the Father, especially here in contrast with 
the preceding men and man, proves that the Apos- 
tle regarded the Saviour as a Divine being. God 
is the Father, not indiscriminately of all men 
(though He is the creator, preserver, and judge of 
all), but of Christ, His only begotten and eternal 
Son, and of all believers who by regeneration be- 
come the children of God (iv. 6; Rom. viii. 15 ; 
John i. 13). God is ' our ' Father, because He is 
the Father (not simply of ' Jesus Christ,' which 
would place Christ on a par with us, but) of ' our 
Lord Jesus Christ ' (comp. Rom. xv. 6 ; 2 Cor. 
i. 3; xi. 31 ; Eph. i. 3; iii. 14; 1 Pet. i. 3). — 
Who raised him from the dead. It was the risen 
Saviour who called Paul to the apostleship, who 
founded the Church and gave some Apostles, 
some prophets, and some evangelists (comp. Eph. 
iv. 11). 

Ver. 2. And all the brethren who are with me. 
The companions and co-laborers of Paul, such as 
Silas, Timothy, Luke, Sosthenes, some of whon 
are expressly mentioned in the address of o*"her 
Epistles (1 Cor. i. 1 ; 2 Cor. i. 1 ; Phil. i. I ; 
1 Thess. i. 1 ; 2 Thess. ii. 1). The word 'all' 
seems to imply a considerable number. The rea- 
son why he mentions others is his strong sense 
of brotherly communion, rather than the desire to 
give additional force to his exhortations. — Unto 
the churches of Galatia. In Ancyra, Pessinus, Ta- 
vium, and other towns of the province. ' Churches ' 
are here (as often) local congregations, which be- 
long to the church universal. In the New Tes- 
tament the word 'church' has only two senses: 
(1) the whole church ; (2) a particular congrega- 
tion. We use it in two additional senses : (3) a 
confession or denomination (the Roman, the An- 
glican, the Lutheran, Church, etc.) ; (4) a church 
building. The Epistle was encyclical, or intended 
for several congregations, like the Epistle to the 
Hebrews and that to the Ephesians. Hence 
the absence of individual greetings at the close. 
The mere mention of the name without those 
honorable epithets (as 'saints in Christ,' 'faithful 
brethren') which he bestows upon other congre- 
gations, betrays his dissatisfaction with the apos- 
tate Galatians. He has no words of praise for 
them; they must be chastised like disobedient and 
ungrateful children. 

Ver. 3. Grace to you and peace. The apostolic 
salutation combines the Greek charis (' grace ') 
and the Hebrew shalom ('peace'), and infuses 
into both a deep Christian meaning. ' Grace ' 
comprehends the fulness of the gospel blessing, 
' peace ' the fulness of our personal enjoyment of 
it and happiness resulting from it. — From God 
the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Fa- 
ther is the direct giver, the Son the mediator, of 
saving grace and inward peace ; but both are 
here (as in ver. 1) so immediately associated that 



we have a right to infer from this the divinity of 
our Lord. No mere man could, without blas- 
phemy, be put into such juxtaposition with the 
infinite Jehovah as a giver of grace and peace. 

Ver. 3 forms a sentence for itself, distinct from 
the address or inscription in vers. I and 2 (comp. 
note on Rom. i. 7). Some ancient authorities 
read ' from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
Christ.' 

Ver. 4. Paul here touches on the doctrinal, 
as in ver. I he touched on the personal, point of 
controversy with the false teachers. He holds 
up at once before the Galatians, who were return- 
ing to the bondage of the law, the picture of the 
dying Saviour, who, by the one sacrifice on the 
cross, fully and forever accomplished our redemp- 
tion, so that we need not resort to any human 
means of salvation or go back to a preparatory 
dispensation. — Who gave himself, nothing less 
than His own person, into death, as a ransom and 
expiatory sacrifice (Rom. iv. 25; I Tim. ii. 6; 
Tit. ii. 14 ; Matt. xx. 28). — For our sins, to atone 
for them, and thereby to abolish the guilt and to 
reconcile us to God (Rom. iii. 25; Gal. iii. 13). 
All sins are included, great and small, past and 
present, known and unknown. — That he might 
deliver us. Lit., tear away, from a power, the ex- 
pression used by the Lord of Paul's own deliver- 
ance (Acts xxvi. 17). 'It strikes the key-note of 
the Epistle. The gospel is a rescue, an emanci- 
pation from a state of bondage' (Lightfoot). — 
From (or out of) this present evil world (ason, 
age), from the state and order of this transitory 
world, where sin and death reign, from the world 
which lies in wickedness (1 John v. 19), in oppo- 
sition to the supernatural order of the heavenly 
kingdom, which begins even here on earth (for he 
who believeth in Christ 'hath eternal life '), but 
which will not be fully revealed till the glorious 
appearance of Christ (Rom. xii. 2; Eph. ii. 2; 
1 Tim. vi. 17; Heb. vi. 5). The words contain 
an allusion to the Jewish distinction between 
' this world ' and ' the world to come,' or the pe- 
riod before and the period after the appearance 
of the Messiah. But the distinction is modified 
in the New Testament : the present world of 
temptation and trial extends to the second and 
glorious coming of Christ ; and the future world, 
though beginning here in faith, does not fully ap- 
pear to sight till the consummation. The primary 
distinction of time (present and future) is lost in 
the moral distinction (good and evil) ; and hence 
' evil ' is placed in the Greek emphatically at the 
end. The verse implies a longing after the glo- 
rious liberty of the children of God. The Apos- 
tles lived on the border line of two asons, looking 
sadly on one and hopefully on the other. So all 
true Christians are pilgrims and strangers in this 
world of sin and sorrow, and have their citizen- 
ship in heaven. — According to the will of God, 
from whom the whole plan and process of re- 
demption proceeds, so that all the glory belongs 
to Him, and not to man. The sacrifice of the Son 
was not forced, or even commanded, by the Father, 
but strictly voluntary, as is implied in the preced- 
ing words : ' Who gave himself for our sins ' 
(comp. John x. 18). It was the act of His free 
love in full harmony with, the eternal design of 
the Father, who ' is not desiring that any should 
perish, but that all should come unto repentance ' 
(2 Peter iii. 9). — And our Father, who is at the 
same time our loving, merciful Father, and who 
out of infinite love gave His Son for our salvation. 



Chap. I. 6-io.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. II 

Our,' however, may also be connected with both Similar doxologies, flowing from an overwhelm- 

nouns : ' our God and Father.' ing sense of gratitude, are frequent with Paul, in 

Ver. 5. To whom (is) the glory, without diminu- connection with the mention of the Christian sal- 

tion or division. The article denotes that it is vation (Rom. xi. 36; xvi. 26; Eph. iii. 21 ; Phil, 

the glory which essentially belongs to God, and to iv. 20; 2 Tim. iv. 18). — For ever and ever, lit., 

God alone. To boundless mercy belongs bound- ' unto the ages of ages ' (<zons of aons, scecula scecu- 

less praise and gratitude. It is an affirmation (is) lorum), — a Hebraizing term for very long, or (as 

rather than a wish (be) ; comp. Matt. vi. 13 ; 1 here) endless duration. In opposition to the 

Pet. iv. 11. The doxology in this place implies present transitory world (ver. 4; comp. Eph. ii. 

an indirect reproof of the Galatians for dividing 2, 7). 
the glory of our salvation between God and man. 



The Apostasy of the Galatians ; Anathema on the False Teachers. 
Chapter I. 6-10. 

In all other Epistles Paul begins in a spirit of Christian courtesy and love, thanksgiving and en- 
couragement, thereby winning the affections and securing the respectful attention of his readers. 
But here he begins with an indignant expression of his painful surprise at the speedy apostasy of his 
spiritual children, and enters his solemn protest against every perversion of the gospel of Christ, 
whom alone he served in his ministry. Yet his deep emotion is more that of sorrow than of anger, 
and implies his profound interest in the Galatians (comp. iv. 19). He chastises them in order to win 
them back to their former position. It was his love that made him severe. 

6 T MARVEL that ye are so soon removed : from a him that * chap. v. 8._ 
-I- called you into 2 the grace of Christ 3 unto another 4 gospel, comp. Acts' 

7 b which is not another; but there be some 5 



and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, 6 or d an 



:; Acts : 



iCor. 



1 Cor. 

£p. h -.. 



angel from heaven, preach 7 any other gospel unto you 8 than d f-££ 
that 9 which we have preached unto you e let him be accursed. 10 e g^ t *" iv 
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any iw 2 ^ 
other gospel unto you than that ye have received, e let him be SLkfg. 1 
10 accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, 11 or God? or / do I i Thess. 
seek 12 to please men ? For if I yet pleased men, 13 I should 
not be the servant u of Christ. 

1 so quickly turning away, or removing 2 in 

3 make a comma after Christ i a different 

5 save (except) that there are some 6 even though we (or, I myself) 

7 should preach 8 some ancient authorities omit unto you 

9 any gospel unto you beside that (or, contrary to that). So also ver. 9. 

10 anathema 

11 For am I now persuading (winning over) men (or, am I now seeking the 
favor of men) ' 2 am I seeking (striving) 

13 if I were still pleasing men u a bondman 

Ver. 6. I marvel. A sharp rebuke in a mild Grotius cites in illustration of the Galatian char- 
word, which challenges explanation, and intimates acter what Cssar says of the Gauls (the ancestors 
that better things were expected from the Gala- of the French) : 'They are quick and resolute, 
tians. — So quickly, namely, either after your con- and fond of change and novelties.' — Turning 
version, which is alluded to in 'who called you,' away; changing over ; here and often in a bad 
or after my second and last visit to you, or after sense, turning' renegades, deserters. The Greek 
the arrival of the false teachers. The first is the (middle voice) implies first that the apostasy was 
most probable. In any case the word points to voluntary on their part, and hence their own guilt ; 
an early date of the Epistle. (See Introd., § 5.) secondly, that it was not yet completed, but still 
Even the best preaching cannot prevent apostasy, in progress, and hence might be arrested. (The 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. I. 6-10. 



passive rendering of the Latin Vulgate and Eng- 
lish Version would transfer the guilt to the false 
teachers, and soften the censure of the Gala- 
tians.) — From him, not Paul, but God the Fa- 
ther, from whom the gospel call always pro- 
ceeds (comp. i. 15 ; I Cor. i. 9 ; vii. 15, 17 ; Rom. 
viii. 30; ix. 11, 24; 1 Thess. ii. 12; 2 Thess. ii. 
14; 2 Tim. i. 9; 1 Peter i. 15; ii. 9; v. 10). — 
In (not into, as the English Version has it, follow- 
ing the Vulgate) the grace of Christ. The grace, 
z. e., the whole work, of Christ as a manifesta- 
tion of His redeeming love is both the element in 
which and the medium by or through which the 
Father draws to the Son (Johnvi. 44) and effects 
the call (comp. Acts xv. 11; Rom. v. 15). — 
Unto a different gospel, different in kind, another 
sort of gospel, which is undeserving of the name, 
since there is but one gospel, namely, that to 
which you were called by God. Hence Paul im- 
mediately adds a correction of this paradoxical 
expression, which he uses simply in accommo- 
dation to the language of the Judaizing pseudo- 
evangelists (comp. 2 Cor. xi. 4). 

Ver. 7. Which (pseudo-gospel of the heretical 
teachers) is not another, z. e., no gospel at all, but 
a perversion and corruption of the one unchange- 
able gospel. The gospel of Paul teaches that 
man is justified by grace alone through faith in 
Jesus Christ ; the pseudo-gospel of the Judaizers 
teaches that man is justified by grace and works 
through faith in Christ and the circumcision of 
Moses. The former makes good works the ef- 
fect, the latter the cause, of justification ; and this 
is thus in fact a relapse into the Jewish stand- 
point under a Christian name. — Save that there 
are some troubling you. Only in this sense is it 
another gospel that it is a perversion of the true 
gospel of Christ by those well-known troublers of 
your conscience. 

Ver. 8. But even though we ourselves (I and 
my colleagues, ver. 2), or an angel from heaven, 
should preach [unto you] any gospel other than 
that (beyond that) which we preached unto you, let 
him he anathema. It is impossible to express more 
strongly and solemnly the conviction of the uner- 
ring truth of the gospel as preached by Paul, the 
zeal for its purity, and the aversion to every her- 
esy. Only an inspired Apostle could thus speak. 
The condemnation of the opponents is indirect, 
but the more certain by the argument a fortiori. 
The severity of Paul against false brethren was 
equalled by his forbearance with weak brethren 
(comp. vi. 1 ; Rom. xiv. 1 and xv. 1). All per- 
sonal assumption and arrogance is here excluded, 
the more so as he conditionally includes himself 
and his colleagues in the anathema. His only 
motive was zeal for the purity of the gospel of his 
divine Lord and Master. — An angel from heaven, 
proverbial expression for a being possessed of the 
highest authority next to the divine. Beside that ; 
lit, beyond what, which is both beside (prceterea) 



and against (contra). The gospel admits of no 
rival, either in the form of foreign additions or 
in the form of changes. Paul condemns not in- 
deed mere differences in form, such as existed even 
among the Apostles themselves, and will always 
exist, but every material alteration of the gospel, 
either by perversion, or omission, or such addi- 
tions as contradict the spirit of apostolic teaching. 
The Judaizers did not expressly deny the doctrine 
of justification by faith, but they indirectly under- 
mined it by adding the assertion of the coordinate 
necessity of circumcision ; just as the Pharisees 
professed to hold fast to the Word of God in the 
Old Testament, and yet made it of none effect by 
their human traditions (comp. Mark vii. 13). The 
passage admits of easy application to the unscrip- 
tural traditions of the Greek and Roman churches. 
— Let him be anathema, anathematized, i. e., de- 
voted (in a bad sense), given over to the judg- 
ment of God. It is a solemn judgment of con- 
demnation as in the name of God (comp. 1 Cor. 
xvi. 22 : 'If any man love not the Lord Jesus 
Christ, let him be anathema; ' also Gal. iii. 13 ; 
v. 10; Rom. ix. 3 ; I Cor. xii. 3). Subsequently, 
among the fathers the idea of ecclesiastical ex- 
communication (accompanied sometimes with an 
execration) was attached to this term ; but this is 
not the Biblical sense, and in our passage it is for- 
bidden by the mention of an angel who cannot be 
excommunicated from the church. 

Ver. 9. Before refers not to ver. 8, which is 
too near, but to the last visit of Paul to Galatia. — 
Preach (evayy<=Ai(eTai) implies the actual fact, not 
the mere possibility, as the hypothetical should 
preach (zvayyeAlixrio-ai, ver. 8), and thus attacks 
more directly the Galatian pseudo-apostles. 

Ver. 10 accounts for, and thus softens, the 
apparently excessive severity of the preceding 
condemnation. The service of the gospel is ab- 
solutely irreconcilable with the selfish service of 
men. We should indeed serve our fellow-men 
(comp. Rom. xv. 1-3), but for God's sake, and 
for the promotion of his glory. — Persuading, try- 
ing to conciliate or to gain favor by persuasion. — 
Still, z. e., after my call to the apostleship, and all 
that has happened to me. This does not necessa- 
rily imply that in his former state he was a time- 
server and pleaser of men, who sought the favor of 
the Jews when he persecuted the Christians. He 
was never dishonest or dishonorable. A certain 
manly independence and fearless regard to duty 
seems to have characterized him even before his 
conversion. — I should not be a servant of Christ 
(lit., bondman, slave), as described with such power 
and beauty, I Cor. iv. 9-13 ; 2 Cor. xi. 23 ff. 
The Galatian heretics, under the assumed char- 
acter of servants of Christ, sought not the glory 
of Christ and the salvation of souls, but only the 
favor of men and their own profit. The Greek fath- 
ers miss the meaning when they explain : I would 
not have left Judaism and become a Christian. 



Chap. I. n-24.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 13 

Apostolical Call and Azitkority of Paul. 
Chapter I. 1 1-24. 

Paul now enters upon his apology. He defends first his independent apostolical dignity (ver. 11 
to ii. 11), and proves that he was called directly by Christ, that he received his gospel through reve- 
lation before he became even acquainted with the older Apostles, and that he was recognized by 
them in his independent apostleship at the conference of Jerusalem. The several points he makes 
are these : (i.) I did not learn the gospel from men in my youth ; on the contrary, I was a violent 
persecutor (vers. 13, 14) ; (2.) I learned it directly from Christ when He revealed Himself to me and 
called me at my conversion (ver. 15) ; (3.) I was not instructed by men after my conversion, for I 
retired forthwith into the desert of Arabia where there were no Christians (ver. 17) ; (4.) nor by the 
Apostles in Jerusalem, for I only saw Peter and James, and them but for a few days (ver. 18) ; (5.) at 
a later visit to Jerusalem I met the Apostles on equal terms and was fully acknowledged by them 
(ii. 1-10) ; (6.) I even openly rebuked Peter, at Antioch, for his inconsistency (ii. 11-14). 

These allusions to important facts in his former life are of great value for a biography of Paul, 
and tend partly to confirm, partly to supplement the account of the Acts concerning his conversion, 
his relation to the other Apostles, and the council of Jerusalem. The differences are such as must 
be expected from two independent writers and can be easily reconciled. 

n""nUT I certify you, 1 brethren, that the gospel which was f V £ OT J * , Y' 

12 -D preached of 2 me is not after 3 man. For *I neither re- c veri^Vh 3 ' 
ceived it of man, 4 neither 5 was I taught it, but 6 c by the reve- ^o^cor! 
lation 7 of Jesus Christ. W;l[ Eph - 

13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the X x^ 4 x ; ' '.' 
Jews' religion, 8 how that d beyond measure I persecuted the Tim. ij 3 : 

14 church of God, and e wasted it : 9 And profited in the Jews' re-^ ix.21. __'" 
ligion above many my equals in mine own nation, 10 •''being xxvi.g; 
more exceedingly zealous a o£ u the traditions of my fathers. <rJ er - ix. i 4 ;_ 

1 5 But when it pleased God, h who separated me u from my h f* r ^ u 1 5 ' 

16 mother's womb, and called me by 13 his grace, ''To reveal his \^\ \ V 
Son in 14 me, that * I might preach him among the heathen ; 15 ^jf 8 ^- 15 ; 

17 immediately I conferred not 16 with ! flesh and blood: Neither { f°^. 1' 2 . 
went I up to Jerusalem to them which 17 were apostles before ^x^fi-! 5 '' 
me; but I went 18 into Arabia, and returned again unto Da- Rom-xl!^! 

maSCUS. , Matt.'xvf.' 

1 8 Then after three years m I went up to Jerusalem to see xy.' S o; Eph. 

19 Peter, 19 and abode 20 with him fifteen days. But n other of the >« V Actsix. 26, 

27- . 
1 Now {according to another reading For) I make known to you 2 by nl lx & 
8 according to 4 neither did I myself receive it from man 6 nor 

6 it came to me 7 through revelation 

8 For ye heard of my former manner of life in Judaism 

9 Was destroying it (labored to destroy it) 

10 and made progress in Judaism beyond many of mine own age in my race 

(nation) 

11 for 12 set me apart 13 through u within 15 Gentiles 
16 held no counsel with 17 to those who 18 went away 

19 to make the acquaintance of Cephas 20 remained 



14 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. 

20 apostles saw I none, save 21 "James the Lord's brother. 22 Now" 
the things which 23 I write unto you, p behold, before God, I p 
lie not. 

21 q Afterwards ^ I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia ; q 

22 And was ^ unknown by face r unto the churches of Judea which r 

23 s were in Christ: But they had heard only, 26 That he which * 
persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once ■ 

24 he destroyed. 27 And they ( glorified God in me. * 

21 But I saw no other of the Apostles but only 

22 the brother of the Lord 23 But what {or, as to the things which) 
24 Then 25 And I was still 

26 but this only they were hearing (had heard) 

2V He who was once persecuting us is now preaching the faith he was once 
destroying (laboring to destroy) 



I. 11-24. 



Acts ix. 30. 
1 Thess. ii. 
Rom. xyi. 7, 



Ver. 11. Now I make known to you. This 
verb introduces a deliberate and emphatic state- 
ment of opinion (as in I Cor. xv. 1 ; 2 Cor. viii. 
1). After the warm burst of feeling he proceeds 
to calm reasoning. Paul still acknowledges the 
readers as brethren, hoping to win them back 
from their error. — According to man. The gospel 
in its origin and contents as received and taught 
by Paul is not human, but divine ; yet intended 
for man, and satisfying the deepest wants of man's 
nature. 

Ver. 12. For neither did I myself receive it 
from man, nor was I taught it, but (it came to 
me) through revelation of Jesus Christ. 'I my- 
self any more than the older Apostles. The op- 
ponents denied the equality of Paul with the orig- 
inal Twelve on that score; hence the 'neither.' 
' Receive ' signifies the passive, ' taught ' the active 
or cooperative mode of appropriation. The for- 
mer refers more to historical, the latter to doc- 
trinal knowledge. Paul was man-taught as a rab- 
binical scholar, but God-taught as a Christian 
Apostle. — 'Through revelation of (from) Jesus 
Christ,' especially on the way to Damascus (Acts 
ix. 3 ff ). This was the fundamental and central 
illumination of Paul, corresponding to the pente- 
costal inspiration of the Twelve, but it was fol- 
lowed by special revelations at different periods 
of his life (comp. Gal. ii. 2 ; Acts xxii. 17 ; xxiii. 
11 ; 1 Cor. xi. 13 ; 2 Cor. xii. 1 ff.). He speaks 
of the abundance of his revelations. We may 
therefore assume a steady growth of the Apostles 
in divine knowledge. St. Peter, also, after Pente- 
cost, received the vision at Joppa (Acts x.), which 
enlightened him concerning the exact relation of 
the gospel to the Gentiles, and thus marked a 
progress in his inspired knowledge and in the 
history of missions. Revelation is distinguished 
from ordinary illumination and instruction by its 
divine origin, its elevatiort above (not against) 
reason, and its sudden communication and intui- 
tive perception. Paul does not mean here the 
outward historical information concerning the life 
of Christ which he could derive in part, at least, 
from reliable eye-witnesses, but chiefly the inter- 
nal exhibition of Christ to his spiritual sense in 
his true character as the Messiah and the only 
and all-sufficient Saviour of the world, and the 
unfolding of the true import of his atoning death 



and resurrection ; in other words, the spiritual 
communication of the gospel system of saving 
truth as taught by him in his sermons and Epistles. 

Ver. 13. For ye heard (when I was with you) 
of my former manner of life (or, conduct) in Ju- 
daism, i. e., the Jewish religion as opposed to 
Christianity, the religion of the Jewish hierarchy 
and the Pharisaic school, not the genuine religion 
of the Old Testament. Paul appeals to the well- 
known fact of his past career as a persecutor, 
which formed a part of his teaching, and conclu- 
sively proved that no mere human teaching could 
have converted him. All his antecedents were of 
such a character that nothing but a divine inter- 
vention could produce so great a change. — That 
beyond measure I persecuted the church of God 
and was destroying it, or ' labored to destroy it ' 
(the same word as in Acts ix. 21). Paul intended 
to annihilate Christianity, was actually employed 
in the attempt and carried it out as far as he 
could (comp. Acts xxii. 4). ' I persecuted this 
way (or, belief) even to death'' (xxvi. 10, 11). 

Ver. 14. And made progress (or, advanced) in 
Judaism beyond many of mine own age in my 
race (or, nation), being more exceedingly zealous 
for the traditions of my fathers. Paul far sur- 
passed in zeal for the Jewish religion his con- 
temporary kinsmen or fellow-religionists. He be- 
longed to the extreme party of the Pharisees who 
called themselves 'zealots of the law, zealots of 
God ' ; comp. Acts xxii. 3, ' I was zealous to- 
wards God ' ; xxiii. 6, ' I am a Pharisee, the son 
of a Pharisee ' (Phil. iii. 5, 6). — ' Traditions of my 
fathers ' are the law of Moses with all the explana- 
tions and additions of the Pharisees (afterwards 
embodied in the Mishna), which concealed rather 
than unveiled the Word of God and either hin- 
dered or destroyed its direct effect (comp. Matt, 
xv. 2 ; Mark vii. 3, 13). Perhaps the written law 
is not included here. ' Tradition ' (paradosis) em- 
braces everything which is handed down orally or 
in writing from generation to generation. It oc- 
curs twelve times in the New Testament, twice in 
a good sense of the Christian doctrine itself ( I 
Cor. xi. 2, rendered ' ordinances ' in the English 
version ; 2 Thess. ii. 15 ; iii. 6) ; in the other pas- 
sages in an unfavorable sense of the human addi- 
tions to, and perversions of, the written word of 
God ; hence defined as ' traditions of the elders ' 



Chap. I. 16-24.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

(Matt. xv. 2, 3, 6; Mark vii. 3, 5, S, 9, 13), or 
' tradition of men ' (Col. ii. 8). Our Saviour never 
appeals to the Jewish traditions except to oppose 
them ; and this is of great moment in the contro- 
versy with Romanism, which relies more on eccle- 
siastical traditions than on the Bible. 

Vers. 15, 16. But when it pleased God who set 
me apart from my mother's womb, and called me 
through his grace, to reveal his Son within me, 
etc. Now he comes to his conversion and ac- 
cumulates words to show the sole agency of God 
and the entire absence of all effort and merit of 
his own in this radical change from fanatical and 
persecuting Judaism to the apostleship of Christ. 
Lightfoot well explains the drift of vers. 15-17 : 
' Then came my conversion. It was foreordained 
before I had any separate existence. It was not, 
therefore, due to any merits of my own. The 
revelation of His Son in me, the call to preach 
to the Gentiles, were acts of His pleasure. Thus 
converted, I took no counsel of human advisers. 
I did not betake myself to the elder Apostles as I 
might naturally have done. I secluded myself in 
Arabia, and, when I emerged from my retire- 
ment, instead of going to Jerusalem, I returned 
to Damascus.' — ' Pleased,' according to His free, 
sovereign will, uninfluenced by any cause from 
without. — ' Set me apart,' elected and devoted me 
to the gospel service ; comp. the same word in 
Rom. i. 1 ; Acts xiii. 2, and the corresponding 
Hebrew verb hiphdil, which is used of the separ- 
ation and dedication of the priests and Levites to 
the service of God (Numb. viii. 14 ; xvi. 9 ; 1 Chr. 
xxiii. 13). The English version ' separated ' is 
misleading. — ' From my mother's womb,' before 
I was bom, or from the moment of my birth and 
personal existence. The same is said of Isaiah 
(xlix. 1, 'the Lord hath called me from the 
womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he 
made mention of my name'), of Jeremiah (i. 5), 
and of John the Baptist (Luke i. 15). The decree 
of election is as eternal as God's omniscience and 
love (comp. Eph. i. 4), but its actualization in 
time begins with the natural birth, and is com- 
pleted with the spiritual birth or the effectual 
call. 

Ver. 16. To reveal depends on 'pleased,' not 
on 'called.' — Within me, in my inmost soul and 
consciousness. The external manifestation of the 
exalted Redeemer from heaven on the way to 
Damascus was accompanied by an inner illumi- 
nation. — That I might preach him among the 
Gentiles. The conversion of Paul coincided with 
his call to the apostleship (Acts xxvi. 16-18), but 
the latter was also newly revealed or confirmed 
to him in a vision at Jerusalem (Acts xxii. 17, 
21). He usually addressed himself first to the 
Jews, but this was only the natural and divinely 
appointed bridge to the mission among the Gen- 
tiles. The converted Jews and proselytes of the 
gate who attended the synagogue worship formed 
the nucleus of his congregations. — Immediately 
I conferred not with ( or, made no communication 
to, held no counsel with) flesh and blood. ' Imme- 
diately ' (or, ' forthwith,' ' straightway ' ) properly 
belongs to 'I went away' (ver. 17), the negative 
clause being interposed ; or it may be connected 
with the whole sentence as expressing a single 
thought : ' Forthwith, instead of consulting with 
flesh and blood, and going up to the older Apos- 
tles in Jerusalem, I departed to Arabia.' When 
God calls we must obey at once without asking 
anybody's advice. — ' Flesh and blood ' is a He- 



15 

brew term for man with the accessory idea of weak- 
ness or frailty (comp. Matt. xvi. 17 ; Eph. vi. 12 ; 
Heb. ii. 14). Paul means here not his sinful nature 
which rebelled against the divine grace, but other 
weak men ; for his object is to prove his entire 
independence of human instruction and counsel. 
Ananias did no more than baptize him and lay 
his hands on him (Acts ix. 15-19). 

According to Acts ix. 20, Paul spent 'some 
days ' at Damascus and preached ' immediately ' 
after his conversion to the Jews in the synagogue ; 
but this was probably only an open confession of 
his faith in the Mes'siahs'hip of Jesus. He did 
not enter upon the active duties of the apostle- 
ship till three years later. After his return from 
Arabia he preached in Damascus more fully and 
provoked the opposition of the Jews which com- 
pelled him to leave; Acts ix. 23 (after l many 
days') ; comp. 2 Cor. xi. 32. It is not necessary, 
therefore, to assume that Luke's ' immediately ' 
is an error of chronology. 

Ver. 17. Neither went I up to Jerusalem. The 
usual term, as Jerusalem was not only the relig- 
ious capital of the Jews, 1 but situated on a high 
hill so that travellers from the east and the west, 
the north and the south, have to ascend. — To 
those who were apostles before me. The Twelve, 
including perhaps also James (comp. ver. 19), 
who, although not one of them, was enjoying an 
almost apostolic authority as a brother of Jesus 
and as the head of the congregation in Jerusalem. 
Paul concedes to the other Apostles no other 
preference but the priority of call. He knew and 
declared in all humility that by the grace of God 
he labored more in word and deed than they all 
(1 Cor. xv. 10; 2 Cor. xi. 5, 23). — But I went 
away (or, departed) into Arabia, This visit is 
not mentioned in the Acts (ix. 23), probably be- 
cause it had no public importance, but belonged 
to the inner and private history of Paul. ' It is,' 
as Lightfoot says, ' a mysterious pause, a moment 
of suspense in the Apostle's history, a breathless 
calm which ushers in the tumultuous storm of his 
active missionary life.' After the great moral 
revolution which shook his body and soul, he 
needed repose and time of preparation for his 
apostleship by prayer, meditation, and the re- 
newed study of the Old Testament, in the light 
of its fulfilment in the person and work of Jesus 
of Nazareth. 2 This retreat took the place of the 
three years' preparation of the older Apostles in 
the school of Christ. The precise locality is a 
matter of conjecture and dispute, as ' Arabia ' has 
an indefinite meaning. Some seek it not far from 
Damascus which is surrounded by desert and is 
called 'the Eye of the Desert.' Others give the 
journey a deeper significance by extending it to 
the Sinaitic Peninsula, which is certainly meant 
by 'Arabia' in Gal. iv. 25 ; and this would more 
easily explain the typical allusion to Mount Sinai 
in the fourth chapter. ' Here, surrounded by the 
children of the desert, the descendants of Hagar 

1 In England and Scotland people ' go up to London,' no 
matter from what part of the country. 

2 Chrysostom entirely misses the meaning of this journey 
to Arabia by making it an active mission tour, saying : ' See 
how fervent was his soul ; he was eager to occupy lands yet 
untilled : he forthwith attacked a barbarous and savage peo- 
ple, choosing a life of conflict and much toil.' There is no 
trace of Christianity in Arabia at so early a time. Hence 
Jerome (probably following Origen) understood Arabia alle- 
gorically for the 'Old Testament : ' In the law and the proph- 
ets Paul sought Christ, and having found H ; m there he re- 
turned to Damascus, and then went to Jerusalem, the place 
of vision and peace.' 



i6 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. I. 16-24. 



the bondwoman, he read the true meaning and 
power of the law' (Lightfoot). Here Paul could 
commune with the spirit of Moses the lawgiver, 
and Elijah the prophet, as Christ had communed 
with them on the Mount of Transfiguration ; here 
he could study face to face ' the ministration of 
death and condemnation,' as he calls the old cov- 
enant, on the spot of its birth, and by contrast 
also 'the ministration of the spirit and righteous- 
ness ' (2 Cor. iii. 7-9)- There is no spot on earth 
where one may receive a stronger and deeper im- 
pression of the terrible majesty of God's law, 
which threatens death to the transgressor, than 
on Mount Sinai and the awful panorama of deso- 
lation and death which surrounds it. To quote 
from my own experience : ' Such a sight of terrific 
grandeur and awful majesty I never saw before, 
nor expect to see again in this world. At the 
same time I felt more than ever before the con- 
trast between the old and new dispensations : the 
severity and terror of the law, and the sweetness 
and loveliness of the gospel' (Schaff, Through 
Bible Lands, p. 172). — And returned again unto 
Damascus. The place of his conversion, one of 
the oldest and most interesting cities in the world, 
known in the days of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 15 ; xv. 
2), conquered by David (2 Sam. viii. 5, 6), and 
after various fortunes by the Romans, at the time 
of Paul's conversion (A. D. 37) under the tempo- 
rary rule of Aretas, king of Arabia Petrasa (2 
Cor. xi. 32). It is a paradise of beauty and fer- 
tility in the midst of a vast desert. It lies 133 
miles northeast of Jerusalem, at the base of the 
Anti-Lebanon mountains, and is well watered by 
the Barada (Abana) and El A'way (Pharpar ; 
2 Kings v. 12). This second visit to Damascus 
must fall within the 'many days' (a period of in- 
definite length) mentioned Acts ix. 23, and was 
terminated by the attempt of the Jews on his life 
(ix. 24, 25 ; 2 Cor. xi. 32). A window is still 
shown in the wall of Damascus, as the traditional 
scene of Paul's escape. 

Ver. 18. Then after three years I went up to 
Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of (or, to be- 
come acquainted with) Cephas, and remained with 
him fifteen days. This first visit of Paul to Jeru- 
salem after his conversion is the same as the one 
mentioned in Acts ix. 25, and took place A. D. 40. 
The ' three years ' must be reckoned from his con- 
version (a. D. 37). It was quite natural that he 
should wish to make the personal acquaintance 
('to see' in the English version is not strong 
enough) of Peter, the leader of the Twelve. The 
fact implies the high position of Peter, but no 
superior authority. Paul's object is to show that 
he was independent of human instruction and 
direction, and fully equal to the older Apostles. 
In ch. ii. 11, he relates that he even publicly re- 
proved Peter at Antioch, which would have been 
an act of flagrant insubordination, had Peter been 
his superior in rank and authority. ' Cephas ' is 
the reading of the best MSS. throughout this 
Epistle and the Epistle to the Corinthians, except 
Gal. ii. 7, 8, instead of ' Peter,' which arose from 
an explanatory gloss. This Syro-Chaldaic name 
was given to Simon by Christ (John i. 43), and 
was adhered to by the Judaizers. It was, per- 
haps, in silent opposition to them that Peter in his 
Epistles used the Greek form. — ' Fifteen days,' 
or, as we would say 'a fortnight,' — too short a 
time to become a disciple of Peter, as much of 
it was occupied by public disputations with the 
Hellenists. The reason of his short stay at Jeru- 



salem was the persecution of the Greek Jews 
(Acts ix. 28, 29), and the express command of 
the Lord to go to the Gentiles (xxii. 17-21). 

Ver. 19. But I saw no other of the Apostles 
but only James. The other Apostles were proba- 
bly absent on a mission to the scattered churches 
of the provinces (comp. Acts ix. 31). The James 
here spoken of is not James the elder, the son of 
Zebedee and Salome, and brother of St. John, 
who was still living at that time (he was beheaded 
in 44 as the first martyr among the Apostles, Acts 
xii. 2), but the same who, after the departure of 
Peter from Palestine (xii. 17), presided over the 
congregation of Jerusalem (xv. 13 ; xxii. 18), and 
is frequently called ' brother of the Lord,' as here, 
or simply James (so in the Acts and Gal. ii.), or by 
the fathers ' Bishop of Jerusalem,' also ' James the 
Just.' Josephus, the Jewish historian, mentions 
him under the name of ' James the brother of 
Jesus, the so-called Christ,' and reports his mar- 
tyrdom A. D. 62 (Antiq. xx. 9, 1). According to 
Hegesippus he died later, about a. D. 69. The 
exceptive words 'but only,' (or, 'if not,' 'save,' 
'unless it be') do not necessarily imply that this 
James was one of the twelve Apostles, and identi- 
cal with James the younger (who is called 'James 
the son of Alphaeus ' ) ; but it intimates rather, in 
connection with what precedes, and with his char- 
acteristic title here given, that he was, like Barna- 
bas (Acts xiv. 14 ; comp. ix. 27), an Apostle only 
in the wider sense, who, owing to his character, 
position, and relationship to the Lord, enjoyed 
apostolical authority. The sense then is : ' the 
only other man of prominence and authority I 
saw was James.' 1 

The brother of the Lord. To distinguish him 
from the two Apostles of that name. ' Brother ' is 
not cousin (for which Paul has the proper Greek 
term, Col. iv. 10.), but either a uterine brother, i. e., 
a younger son of Joseph and Mary (which is the 
most natural view ; comp. the words ' till ' and 
'first born ' in Matt. i. 25, and Luke ii. 7) ; or a 
son of Joseph from a previous marriage, and hence 
a step-son of Mary and a step-brother of Jesus. 
Comp. on the brothers of the Lord (James, Joses, 
Simon, and Judas), Matt. i. 25 ; xii. 46; xiii. 55 ; 
Mark vi. 3 ; John ii. 12 ; vii. 3-10 ; Acts i. 14. 
The cousin-theory of the Roman church (dating 
from Jerome and Augustine at the close of the 
fourth century) is exegetically untenable, and was 
suggested chiefly by a doctrinal and ascetic bias 
in favor of the perpetual virginity of Mary and 
Joseph. The following reasons are conclusive 
against it and in favor of a closer relationship : 
(1.) the natural meaning of the term 'brother,' of 
which there is no exception in the New Testa- 
ment, and scarcely in the Old ; (2.) the fact that 
these brothers and sisters appear in the Gos- 
pels constantly in close connection with the holy 
family ; (3.) they are represented as unbelieving 
before the resurrection (John vii. 5), which ex- 
cludes them from the Twelve; (4.) they are al- 
ways distinguished from the Twelve (John ii. 17 ; 
vii. 3-10; Acts i. 14; 1 Cor. ix. 5). The old 
Greek fathers also (Origen, Eusebius, Epipha- 
nius, etc.), clearly distinguish James the brother 
of the Lord from the two Apostles of that name. 

1 The question depends philologically upon the connection 
of the Greek particle el ^17. If connected with the whole 
sentence (' I saw no other Apostle save James '), it includes 
James among the Apostles; if connected only with ' I saw' 
('but / saw James'), it excludes him. The latter is the 
force of the particle in Gal. ii. 16; Matt. xii. 4; Luke iv 
26, 27 ; Rev. xxi. 27. (See Wieseler's Com.) 



Chap. I. 13-24.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 17 

Ver. 20. This solemn asseveration refers to feet of Gamaliel and persecuted the Christians, 

the statement vers. 18 and 19. Judaizing oppo- Comp. again Acts ix. 26-30. 

nents had probably spread the report in Galatia Ver. 23. They were hearing (kept hearing) 

that Paul spent a much longer time in Jerusalem, expresses the idea of duration better than ' heard.' 

and was instructed by the Jewish Apostles, espe- — The faith is used here in the passive or objec- 

cially by Peter, consequently dependent on them, tive sense = the gospel, the Christian religion 

Ver. 21. Comp. Acts ix. 30. — Syria, the prov- (not a formulated statement of dogmas, but rather 
ince of which Antioch was the capital. — Cilicia, a living system of divine truth) ; comp. Gal. vi. 
the province adjoining Syria. Paul was a native 10 ; Acts vi. 7 ; Jude ver. 3. In most cases, how- 
of Tarsus, its capital, and a famous seat of learn- ever, especially in the Gospels, the Greek word 
ing. The object of his journey was no doubt to has the active or subjective meaning, 'trust,' 'con- 
preach the gospel, as appears from Acts xv. 23, fidence ' in God or Christ, and is one of the ear- 
where churches are mentioned in those regions, dinal Christian virtues ; hence Christians are 
In Tarsus, Barnabas met him somewhat later, called ' believers.' If used of God, it means his 
and took him to Antioch, where they remained faithfulness, trustworthiness, immutability of pur- 
a whole year, and then they went together to Je- pose (Rom. iii. 3). 

rusalem (a. d. 44) on a benevolent mission (Acts Ver. 24. In me, in my case, or example, not 

xi. 25-30). on my account. The Christian hero-worship gives 

Ver. 22. And was still unknown by face, by all the glory to God. Chrysostom : ' He does 

sight, personally. — Judaea is here the district with- not say, they marvelled at me, they were struck 

out the capital, as Italy is often distinguished with admiration of me, but he attributes all to 

from Rome (Heb. xiii. 24). The congregation grace. They glorified God, he says, in me.' This 

of Jerusalem must be excepted ; for there Paul truly Christian conduct of the Jewish converts in 

was known from his visit mentioned in ver. 18, Palestine contrasts favorably with the envy and 

and from his former life when he studied at the calumny of the Judaizers in Galatia. 



Excurstis on the Conversion of St. Paul. 
Chapter I. 13-17. 

Here we have from Paul's own pen a brief account of his conversion, which coincided with his 
call to the apostleship. It is more fully related three times in the Acts, once by Luke (chap, ix.), 
and twice by Paul himself, before his countrymen at Jerusalem (chap, xxii.), and before King Agrippa 
(chap. xxvi.). He alludes to it repeatedly in his Epistles ; he saw the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 
ix. 1), who appeared to him on the way to Damascus as really and visibly as he had previously ap- 
peared to the older Apostles (1 Cor. xv. 8). We make a few reflections on this great event : — 

1. The conversion of Paul was a miracle of divine grace, resting on the greater miracle of the 
resurrection of Christ. All attempts to explain it from external causes such as thunder and light- 
ning, or out of a previous state of his mind, have failed. The most learned of modern skeptics 
(Dr. Baur) confessed at the end of his life (i860), that 'no psychological nor dialectical analysis' 
can explain this extraordinary transformation of Paul ' from the most vehement adversary into the 
most resolute herald of Christianity,' and he felt constrained to call it ' a miracle,' notwithstanding 
his philosophical aversion to miracles. 

2- It was sudden and radical. Paul compares it to the creative act of God which called the nat- 
ural light out of the darkness of chaos (2 Cor. iv. 6). He was in a state of active- and fanatical 
hostility to Christ, bent upon the destruction of Christianity, and at once became a most determined 
and devoted champion of the cross he had hated and despised, and the most successful promoter of 
the religion he had hoped to exterminate from the face of the earth. The connecting link between 
the Jewish Saul and the Christian Paul was the honesty of purpose and the energy of will. Reso- 
lute and energetic characters are apt to change suddenly and radically, and to embrace the new cause 
with all the ardor of their soul. Upon proud, heroic natures the Spirit of God comes, not in the 
still, gentle breeze, but in the earthquake, the fire, and the storm. Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and 
Knox may be quoted as illustrations, although they fall far behind the great Apostle of the Gentiles. 

3. It was as sincere as any conversion that ever took place. It cannot be explained from any self- 
ish motive of gain or ambition. Paul was neither an impostor nor an enthusiast. He had nothing 
to win and everything to lose in a worldly point of view. He left a commanding position as a leader 
of the Jewish nation, to join a poor, weak, despised sect, which at first distrusted him ; he sacrificed 
honor, influence, and power for a life of toil, self-denial, and persecution. He suffered the loss of 
all things and ' counted them but dung that he might win Christ ' (Phil. iii. 8, 9) ; and in Him he 
found the richest compensation for all his sacrifices. 

4. It was lasting and most effective for all future ages. Paul labored more in word and deed than 
any other Apostle. He was a true moral conqueror of the world. His life and work after his con- 
version is, next to the life of his and our Lord and Master, the sublimest spectacle in the history of 
religion. It was one unbroken act of self-consecration to the glory of Christ and the good of man- 
kind, and sealed at last with a joyful and triumphant martyrdom. 

5. It is an unanswerable argument for the truth of Christianity. It is a regenerative, converting, 
ennobling, and sanctifying agency wherever Paul's name is known, his history read, and his Epistles 
studied in the fear and love of God. It has led to many conversions besides that of Lord Lyttleton, 
who wrote a special book on the subject. No other religion can produce such characters as Paul. 
A life so pure, so noble, so devoted, so fruitful in good works, is a perpetual benediction to the 
church and the world. 



18 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. II. i-io. 

CHAPTER II. 

I. Conference of Paul with the elder Apostles at Jerusalem, vers. i-io. II. Collis- 
ion of Paul with Peter at Antioch, vers. 11-21. 

Conference of Paul zvith the Jewish Apostles at Jerusalem. 

Chapter II. 1-10. 

Continuation of the personal defence. Fourteen years after his conversion, Paul had an interview 
with the Apostles of the circumcision at Jerusalem concerning his mode of preaching the gospel, and 
was recognized by them as an independent, divinely appointed Apostle of the Gentiles. With this 
section should be compared the account of the Apostolic Council in Acts xv. 

Which journey to Jerusalem does Paul here refer to ? This is the preliminary question to be 
settled in the interpretation of this difficult section. The Acts mention five such journeys after his 
conversion, namely: (1.) ix. 23 (comp. Gal. i. 18), the journey of the year 40, three years after his 
conversion. (2.) xi. 30; xii. 25 the journey during the famine in 44. (3.) xv. 2, the journey to 
the Apostolic Council, A. D. 50 or 51. (4.) xviii. 22, the journey in 54. (5.) xxL'15 (comp. Rom. 
xv. 25 ff.), the last visit, on which he was made a prisoner and sent to Caesarea, a. d. 58. 

Of these journeys the first, of course, cannot be meant, on account of Gal. i. 18. The second is 
excluded by the chronological date in ii. I. For as it took place during the famine of Palestine and 
in the year in which Herod died, A. D. 44, it would put the conversion of Paul back to the year 30, 
which is much too early. Some propose to read four instead of fourteen, but without any critical 
authority. There is no good reason why Paul should have mentioned this second journey, since it 
was undertaken simply for the transmission of a collection of the Christians at Antioch for the relief 
of the brethren in Judaea, and not for the purpose of conferring with the Apostles on matters of dis- 
pute. In all probability he saw none of them on that occasion, since in that year a persecution raged 
in which James the elder suffered martyrdom, and Peter was imprisoned. The fifth journey cannot 
be meant, as it took place after the composition of the Epistle to the Galatians and after the disper- 
sion of the Apostles. Nor can we think of the fourth, which was very short and transient (Acts 
xviii. 21, 22), leaving no time for such important transactions as are here alluded to ; nor was Barna- 
bas with him on that occasion, having separated from Paul some time before (Acts xv. 39). 

We must therefore identify our journey with the third one, mentioned in the 15th chapter of Acts. 
For this took place a. d. 50 or 51, i. e., fourteen years after his conversion (37), and was occasioned 
by the controversy on the authority of the law- of Moses and the relation of the Gentile converts to 
the Christian Church (Acts xv. 2). This visit Paul could not pass over, as it was of the greatest mo- 
ment to his argument. The two accounts perfectly agree in all the essential circumstances. The 
conference took place between Jerusalem and Antioch ; the persons are the same, Cephas and James 
representing the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas delegated from Antioch in behalf 
of the Gentile Christians ; the Judaizing agitators are the same ; the controversy is the same, namely, 
the circumcision ; the result is the same, namely, the triumph of the principle of faith in the saving 
grace of Christ, and the recognition of the Apostolic authority of Paul and Barnabas for the mis- 
sion among the Gentiles. But the account of the Acts is fuller ; that of the Galatians only brings 
out the chief points. Luke, in keeping with the documentary character of the Acts, gives us the 
public transactions of the Council at Jerusalem; Paul, taking a knowledge of these for granted, 
shortly alludes to his private conference and agreement with the Apostles (see note to verse 2). Both 
together give us a complete history of that remarkable convention. It was the first synod in Christen- 
dom for the settlement of the first doctrinal and practical controversy which agitated the church and 
threatened to divide it ; but the wisdom of the Apostles prevented the split. 

1 r I ^HEN fourteen years after 1 a I went up again to Jerusalem <* Acts xv. 2. 

2 -L with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. 2 And I went 

up by revelation, * and communicated unto them that 3 gospel b Acts xv - "■ 

1 after an interval, or, after the lapse of fourteen years 

2 having taken with me Titus also 

8 laid before them {or, referred to them) the 



Chap. II. i-io.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 19 

which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which c f!gjj^ 
were of reputation, 4 lest by any means c I should run, or had ^. lCor ' lx " 

3 run, in vain. 5 But neither 6 Titus, who was with me, being a d £ c ; ts 2 x Cor.' 

4 Greek, was compelled to be circumcised : And that 7 because of ,chap.'iii.*5S 
d false brethren unawares brought in, 8 who came in 9 privily to i 3 ap ' v ; 
spy out our e liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, •''that they dia^'lv.'"' 

5 might bring us into bondage : To whom we gave place by sub- ver. i. 
iection, no, not for an hour; 10 that "the truth of the gospel s chip. jif.'i ; 

J chap. iv. 16. 

6 might continue with you. But of those A who seemed to be /< diap-ji.3. 
somewhat 11 (whatsoever they were, 12 it maketh no matter to ^ Rom-iLi.'. 
me: i God accepteth no 13 man's person), for they who seemed , j£ tsxiii _ 46 . 

7 to be somewhat *in conference added nothing to me: 14 But |°™; X ;;V 3 . 
contrariwise, 15 'when they saw that the gospel of the uncir- \ |j™; £■£ 
cumcision m was committed unto me, 16 as the gospel of the cir- m * Thess ' "■ 

8 cumcision was unto Peter; 17 (For he that wrought effectually * ^V^u. 
in Peter to 18 the apostleship of the circumcision, "the same ^iTco?. 7 ' 

9 was ° mighty in me toward 19 the Gentiles ;) And when 20 James, chap°i' i& ; 
Cephas, and John, who seemed to be p pillars, 21 perceived 22 a chap.'m.' s . 
? the grace that was given unto me, they 23 gave to me and p J£f Ep h!'ii 
Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go 2i x xi'. I4 . ev ' 

io unto the heathen, 25 and they unto the circumcision; only they q x ii°™.'6 ; s ' 
would' 1 * that we should remember the poor ; r the same which Co'r.'Iv. io; 

1 Eph. iii. 8. 

I also was forward to do. 27 *■ Actsxi. 3 o; 

xxiv. 17 ; 

4 before those of (chief) reputation 25°™ Cor. 

6 lest perchance I might be running, or had run to no purpose £"• ^j 2 ^ 

6 Yet not even 7 or, but it was 

8 on account of the false brethren stealthily (insidiously) brought in, or, 
foisted in 9 lit. came in besides, or, crept in 

10 we did not yield even for an hour by submission (or, in the way of sub- 

mission) 

11 from those reputed to be something (those in authority) 

12 or, what they once were 18 not 

14 for to me those of (chief) reputation added nothing (or, gave me no new 
instruction) 15 on the contrary 16 that I am intrusted with 

17 even as Peter with that of the uncircumcision 

18 who gave strength to Peter for 19 gave strength to me also for 
20 omit when 21 who are reputed to be pillars 

22 perceiving 23 omit they 

24 others stipply that we should preach the gospel to, or, should be apostles to 

25 Gentiles 26 omit they would 

27 the very thing which I also was zealous to do 

Ver. 1. Then after an interval of fourteen years date is confirmed by other chronological hints and 

I went up again to Jerusalem. The fourteen years combinations. The second journey to Jerusalem, 

of independent apostolic labor are to be reckoned on a purely benevolent mission during the famine 

not from the journey last mentioned (i. 18), but of 44, at a season of persecution when probably 

from Paul's conversion, this being the great turn- all the Apostles were absent and only "the El- 

ing point in his life (i. 15). As this probably took ders" are mentioned (Acts xi. 30; xii. 25), is 

place A. D. 37, we would have the year 50 or 51 omitted as irrelevant to the point here at issue. 

for the Apostolic Council here referred to. This After my conversion, he means to say, I had the 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. II. 



20 

following opportunities of conferring with the 
Apostles: (1.) three years afterwards I went to 
Jerusalem, and saw Peter, but only for a fortnight ; 
(2.) after a lapse of fourteen years I went to Jeru- 
salem again and had a special conference with 
the chief Apostles. But in neither case was I 
instructed or commissioned by them ; on the 
contrary, they recognized me as an independent, 
divinely appointed Apostle of the Gentiles. 

Lightfoot also identifies this visit with that to 
the Apostolic Council, which he puts into the year 
51, but dates the fourteen years from the first 
visit (i. 18), and throws the first visit back to 
A. D. 38, and the conversion to A. D. 36, adopting 
the Jewish mode of reckoning. 

With Barnabas, having taken with me Titus 
also, Barnabas, next to Paul the chief leader of 
the Gentile mission, is mentioned by Luke (Acts 
xv. 2) as his fellow-delegate from Antioch. Titus 
is nowhere mentioned in the Acts, but included 
in the ' certain others,' who accompanied them. 
Being an uncircumcised convert and a living tes- 
timony of the efficient labors of Paul among the 
Gentiles, Titus was peculiarly suited for the object 
of this journey. He was also (as Lightfoot sug- 
gests) much in Paul's mind, if not in his company, 
at the time he wrote this Epistle (comp. 2 Cor. 
ii. 13; vii. 6, 13-15; viii. 16, 23; xii. 18). 

Ver. 2. By revelation. In consequence of a 
divine monition such as he often experienced 
(comp. Acts xvi. 6, 7 ; xix. 21 ; xx. 22, 23 ; xxii. 
17; xxvii. 23; 2 Cor. xii. 1). This was the in- 
ward, personal motive. Luke in Acts xv. 2 omits 
this, but mentions the external, or public occa- 
sion, namely, the appointment by the church of 
Antioch, which sent him and Barnabas as dele- 
gates to represent the interests of Gentile Chris- 
tianity. This appointment may have been either 
prompted or confirmed by the' inner revelation. 
So Peter, according to Acts x., was induced both 
by a vision and by the messengers of Cornelius, 
to go to Cassarea. — And communicated to them, 
or laid before them, i. e., the Christians at Jerusa- 
lem (ver. 1), the whole congregation. This im- 
plies a public transaction in open council, which 
is described in the Acts. Paul confines himself 
to an account of the private and personal agree- 
ment with the leading Apostles, because the de- 
cision and pastoral letter of the council (Acts xv. 
22 ff.) had already been communicated by him to 
his churches (xvi. 4). The decree was a com- 
promise intended for a special emergency, and 
not for universal and permanent use. But it was 
no doubt interpreted by the Judaizing teachers 
in a sense contrary to the meaning of the chief 
Apostles, and hence the importance of referring 
to their personal understanding with Paul. — 
Privately, or apart, in private conference, as dis- 
tinct from the discussion in open council. Such 
private conferences are always held in connection 
with public assemblies, for the purpose of prepar- 
ing and maturing business for final action. Ben- 
gel : ' All were not capable of comprehending 
it.' — Those of chief reputation, the leading men 
who enjoyed the greatest authority among the 
Jewish Christians, the ' pillar ' Apostles, namely 
James, Peter, and John (ver. 9). Similar is the 
expression, 'the very chief est Apostles' (2 Cor. 
xi. 5; xii. 11). 'The men of chief reputation' 
is a term of honor, but as repeated in vers. 6 
and 9 in connection with 'something,' and 'pil- 
lars,' it seems to imply a slight tint of irony. 
The blame is, of course, not intended for the 



Apostles themselves, whose testimony in his fa- 
vor it is his purpose here to relate, and whom 
he always treated with fraternal esteem and love, 
but for the Judaizers who unduly exalted them 
above Paul. He feels himself equal to them be- 
fore men, and yet in his deep humility before 
God he calls himself the least of the Apostles 
and unworthy of the high name, because he per- 
secuted the church of God ( 1 Cor. xv. 9). See 
Excursus. — Lest perchance, etc., lest my apos- 
tolic labors past and present should be fruitless, 
not in themselves nor in the judgment of Paul, 
but in the judgment of the Jewish Christians. 
The non-recognition of the Gentile churches by 
the mother church of Jerusalem would have in- 
terfered also with the progress of his mission 
and unsettled many of his weaker converts, as 
the example of the Galatians shows. The ex- 
pression 'run ' is taken from the image of a race, 
to which the Christian life is frequently com- 
pared (Phil. ii. 16 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7 ; I Cor. vii. 24 f. ; 
Gal. v. 7; Heb. xii. 1). Bengel : 'I should run 
with the swift victory of the gospel.' 

Ver. 3. Yet not even Titus .... being a Greek, 
or although he was a Greek, that is, a heathen. 
Far from declaring my labors fruitless and dis- 
approving my gospel, the Jewish Apostles did not 
force even Titus, my companion and co-laborer, 
much less the body of the Gentile converts, to 
submit to circumcision, although the Judaizing 
party peremptorily demanded it as a condition of 
justification (as appears from vers. 4 and 5, and 
Acts xv. 5). 

Ver. 4. And that (happened, or, was done) on 
account of the false brethren. The words ' and 
that' (54=nemfe) are explanatory, and assign the 
reason why Titus was not compelled by the chief 
Apostles to be circumcised. It explains and qual- 
ifies the general assertion (ver. 3), and intimates 
that under other circumstances, if no principles 
had been involved, and if the false brethren had 
not made it a party issue, the Jewish Apostles 
might have demanded or at least recommended 
circumcision, as an act of prudence, or for peace 
sake. Paul would have respected the scruples of 
■weak brethren (comp. Rom. xiv. and xv.) ; while 
he was inflexible in resisting the demands of false 
brethren. He himself, after the apostolic coun- 
cil, circumcised Timothy (Acts xvi. 3) without 
any inconsistency (comp. I Cor. vii. 18). For 
he did this from his own impulse, and for the 
purpose of making Timothy more useful, without 
compromising the principle of justification by 
faith. It must be remembered, also, that Timothy 
was a Jew from his mother's side, and that there- 
fore the Jews had a certain right to claim him, 
while Titus was a pure Gentile by birth. 

Others take ver. 4 as an independent, though 
grammatically irregular sentence, and supplement 
it in this way : ' But (8e in the adversative sense) 
on account of the false brethren (/'. e., to appease 
the Judaizers) the leading Apostles recommended 
the circumcision of Titus as a charitable concession 
to their prejudices — to whom, however (z. e., the 
false brethren), we (Paul and Barnabas) did not 
yield for a single hour.' This would imply a 
slight censure of the weakness of the other Apos- 
tles. Paul was, we must suppose in this case, 
distracted between the duty of frankness and the 
duty of reserve ; he wished to maintain his inde- 
pendence without compromising his colleagues. 
Hence the broken and obscure character of the 
sentence. 



Chap. II. i-io.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



Foisted in, brought in by unfair means, like 
traitors and spies. These Judaizers were for- 
merly Pharisees (Acts xv. 5), and were so still in 
spirit, although they professed Christianity by 
the mouth and were baptized. From these false 
brethren who were intolerant Judaizers of the ma- 
lignant type and bitter haters of freedom, we 
should carefully distinguish the weak brethren 
whom Paul treats with great indulgence (Rom. 
xiv. 1 ; xv. 1-3). — To spy out, or to act as spies 
on our freedom from the bondage of the law, and 
to find out how far we observed the Mosaic or- 
dinances or violated them. — In Christ Jesus, in 
living union with him who is the end and fulfil- 
ment of the law (Rom. x. 4). This is the positive 
side of freedom. Out of Christ there is no true 
freedom, but slavery of sin (comp. v. 1-12 ; John 
viii. 32-36). 

Ver. 5. These false brethren, it must be re- 
membered, required circumcision and the observ- 
ance of the whole ceremonial law not only from 
the Jewish, but also from the Gentile Christians, 
and that not only as an old venerable custom, 
but as a necessary condition to salvation. Paul 
and his companions could, therefore, not yield to 
them for a moment by the submission (required 
by the false brethren) to the law of circumcision, 
so as to circumcise Titus according to their de- 
mand. He could here not become a Jew to the 
Jews in order to gain them (1 Cor. ix. 20-22), as 
in such cases where the truth was not jeopardized, 
and where subjection was simply a matter of 
charity and expediency. Submission in the case 
of Titus would have been treason to the truth 
that Christ is the only and sufficient source of 
salvation ; it would have been a sacrifice of the 
sacred rights and liberty of the Gentile Chris- 
tians. Bengel takes 'submission' as a limitation : 
' We would willingly have yielded for love.' 

Ver. 6. From those reputed to be something ; 
lit., ' those who have the estimation of being 
something,' that is, something great, or 'those 
who are held in chief reputation,' ' who are looked 
up to as authorities,' the ' pillar '-apostles, ver. 9, 
or as Paul expresses it in 2 Cor. xi. 5 and xii. 11, 
' the very chiefest apostles.' It appears from ver. 
9 that he means the older Apostles, James, Peter, 
and John, who were justly regarded as the pillars 
of the Church. The expression may be depre- 
ciatory (comp. Gal. vi. 3), according to the con- 
text. He does not, as already remarked, depre- 
ciate his colleagues, but disapproves the extrava- 
gant overestimate put upon them by the Judaizers 
in behalf of their own narrow and exclusive sys- 
tem and in opposition to Paul. His high sense 
of independence, far from being identical with 
pride, rested in his humility and was but the com- 
plement to his feeling of absolute dependence on 
God. — 'What they once (formerly) were,' refers 
to their advantages in the personal intercourse 
with Christ, on which the Judaizers laid great 
stress, and on which they based the superiority 
of the Twelve. Paul made no account of the 
knowledge of Christ 'after the flesh' (2 Cor. v. 
16), which was of no benefit to the Jews without 
faith. — God accepteth not man's person, or God is 
no regarder of person. A Hebraizing expression 
for impartiality. To regard a man's person, his 
face, wealth, rank, and external condition, as dis- 
tinct from his intrinsic merits, is partiality, and 
this God never exercises (comp. Acts x. 34; Rom. 
ii. 11; Eph. vi. 9; Col. iii. 25). — For to me 
those, I say, — reassumption of the unfinished sen- 



21 

tence in another form, instead of : ' From those 
of chief reputation — I received no new instruc- 
tion.' — Added (or communicated, imparted) noth- 
ing, i. e., by way of supplementing or correcting 
my exposition of the Gospel (ver. 2), but on the 
contrary they were satisfied with it and with my 
mode of converting the Gentiles. (Others ex- 
plain : laid no additional burden on me, namely, 
the ceremonial law ; but they laid no burden on 
him at all.) 

Ver. 7. When they saw, from the communi- 
cations of Paul (ver. 2) and the abundant results 
of his missionary labors among the Gentiles (Acts 
xv. 12). — That I am (not was) intrusted. I have 
been and am still intrusted. The Greek perfect 
implies that the commission and trust is still in ac- 
tive force. — With the gospel of uncircumcision, i. 
e., with the evangelization of the Gentiles. The 
gospel is the same, but the sphere of labor is dif- 
ferent. Paul was directed to the field of heathen 
missions at his conversion (which coincided with 
his call and apostleship), Acts ix. 15, and more 
clearly by a special revelation in the temple of 
Jerusalem, xxii. 17-21. Yet the division of labor 
was not absolute and exclusive. Paul generally 
commenced to preach in the synagogue because 
it furnished the most convenient locality and the 
natural, historical connection for the announce- 
ment of the gospel, and because it was resorted 
to by the numerous proselytes who formed the 
bridge to heathen missions (comp. Acts xiii. 5, 
46 ; xiv. 1 ; xviii. 6 ; Rom. i. 16 ; ix. 1, 3). On 
the other hand, Peter, though he was then, and 
continued to be, the head of the Jewish Christian 
branch of the Apostolic Church, opened the door 
for the conversion of the Gentiles by the baptism 
of Cornelius (Acts x. ; xi. ; xv. 7), and his Epistles 
show that in his later years he did not confine 
himself to the circumcision, for the congregations 
to which they are addressed were of a mixed 
character and partly founded by Paul. 

Ver. 8 is a parenthetic explanation of ver. 7. — 
Gave strength to (or worked for), i. e., enabled 
them successfully to discharge the duties of the 
Apostolic office, by conferring upon them the 
necessary spiritual gifts and qualifications and ac- 
companying their preaching with signs and mira- 
cles (comp. Rom. xv. 18, 19; 2 Cor. xii. 12).— 
For the Gentiles — for the apostleship of the Gen- 
tiles. 

Ver. 9. Perceiving (or knowing) indicates the 
conviction arrived at in consequence of the suc- 
cessful labors of Paul, as the divine attestation of 
his apostleship. — The grace implies here the call, 
the spiritual outfit and the success, all of which 
Paul regards as a free gift of God in Christ, as he 
says, 1 Cor. xv. 10 : 'By the grace of God I am 
what I am ; and his grace which was bestowed 
upon me was not in vain ; but I labored more 
abundantly than they all ; yet not I, but the grace 
of God which was with me.' — James stands here 
first according to the best manuscripts. It is the 
brother of the Lord, mentioned i. 19. Although 
not one of the Twelve, he enjoyed Apostolic au- 
thority. (There is no good reason for understand- 
ing here, with Dr. Wieseler, the younger Apostle 
of that name, James the son of Alphaeus, who 
held no very prominent rank. The older James, 
the son of Zebedee, suffered martyrdom in 44, six 
years before the Council of Jerusalem.) In the 
Jewish Church at large Peter occupied the most 
prominent rank, and is therefore named in vers. 7 
ancj 8 ; but in Jerusalem, of which Paul speaks 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. II. i-io. 



22 



here, James stood at the head of the congregation 
(comp. Acts xii. 17; xv. 13; xxi. 18), and he 
probably presided also over the Apostolical Coun- 
cil, or at all events exerted the controlling influ- 
ence there and led to the final decision, Acts xv. 
13 ff. — Pillars, i. e., leading men, chief cham- 
pions of the church, which is often represented 
as a temple, 1 Cor. v. 16 ; Eph. ii. 21 ; 1 Tim. 
iii. 15 ; Rev. iii. 12. But the expression is used 
in the same sense in all languages without meta- 
phor, and especially among the Jews of the great 
teachers of the law. Paul does not deny his col- 
leagues to be the leading Apostles of the Jews ; 
they were so still in fact, as he was the pillar of 
the Gentile Church ; but the Judaizers used the 
expression no doubt in an envious party sense and 
with the view to depreciate Paul (comp. ver. 6 
note). — The right hands of fellowship. A pledge 
of brotherhood and fidelity. This fact, based as 
it was, on sincere esteem and love, refutes the 
conclusion of some modern critics that there was 
a serious discord between Paul and the older 
Apostles. They differed widely, no doubt, in tal- 
ent, temperament, and field of labor, but they 
agreed in spirit and principle ; they were ser- 
vants to the same Lord and organs of the same 
grace, and as they sought not their own glory, 
there was no room for envy and jealousy. — That 
we should (go, or, be Apostles, or, preach the gos- 
pel ) to the Gentiles and they to the circumcis- 
ion, i. e., the Jews. Division of the field of la- 
bor, with one reservation, mentioned in ver. 10, 
and faithfully kept. 

Ver. 10. Remember the poor of the Jewish 



Christians in Palestine, who suffered much from 
famine and persecution (comp. Acts. xi. 29). 
Charity should thus not only afford temporal re- 
lief to the needy, but be a moral bond of union 
also between the Jewish and the Gentile Chris- 
tians and furnish a proof of the gratitude of the 
latter for the unspeakable gift of the gospel which 
they received from the former. Such a collec- 
tion is mentioned Acts xi. 29 f., and was for- 
warded by the congregation of Antioch to the 
brethren in Judaea through the hands of Paul and 
Barnabas during the famine of 44. On his third 
great missionary tour between 54 and 57, Paul 
raised large contributions in his congregations for 
this purpose, and took them himself to Jerusa- 
lem on his fifth and last visit (1 Cor. xvi. I ; 2 
Cor. viii. and ix. ; Rom. xv. 25 ; Acts xxiv. 17). 
— The very thing which I was zealous (diligently 
endeavored) to do, then and always. He needed 
no prompting to this duty and privilege. It was 
his habit, and hence the Judaizers had no ground 
whatever to charge him with a breach of contract 
on that score. The exercise of Christian liberal- 
ity and benevolence for the poor, for missions and 
all the general operations of the Church, is as 
much a duty and ought to be as steady a habit, 
as prayer, or any other exercise of piety. What 
Paul did in the Apostolic age, has been done by 
the Church ever since. The West receives the 
gospel from the East and must show its gratitude 
by helping the East. If pure Christianity is to be 
revived in Bible Lands it must be done by the 
faith and the money of the Churches of Europe 
and America. 



Excursus on the Relation of Paul to the Jewish Apostles. 
Chapter II. i-io. 



Compare here my History of the Apostolic Church (1853), pp. 245-260 and pp. 282 ff., 616 ff., and an able Excursus of 
Dr. Lightfoot on ' St Paul and the Three,' in his Com. on Calat., p. 283 ff. (second ed. 1866). 

The Epistle to the Galatians and the entire history of the Apostolic Church cannot be understood 
without keeping constantly in view the fact that the Apostolic Church embraced two distinct, and 
yet essentially harmonious sections of Jewish and Gentile Christians, which ultimately grew together 
into one community. The distinction disappeared after the destruction of Jerusalem, when the last 
link between the old and the new religion was broken. Before that event there was more or less fric- 
tion arising from educational prejudices and congenial surroundings. In the second chapter of the 
Galatians and the fifteenth chapter of the Acts the friction is distinctly brought out, and, at the same 
time, the underlying Apostolic harmony. In the second century the antagonism without the har- 
mony reappeared in the distorted and heretical forms of the Judaizing Ebionitism and the antinomian 
Gnosticism. 

The Jewish Christianity clung closely to the Mosaic traditions and usages and hoped for a conver- 
sion of the Jewish nation until that hope was annihilated by the terrible judgment of the destruction 
of the temple, and the Jewish theocracy. The Gentile Christianity was free from those traditions 
and established on a liberal and independent basis. The older Apostles, especially James, Peter, 
and John (in his earlier period) represented the church of the circumcision (ver. 9) ; James the 
brother of the Lord and head of the mother church at Jerusalem, being the most strict and conserv- 
ative, Peter the most authoritative, John the most liberal and holding himself in mysterious reserve 
for his later comprehensive position. Paul and Barnabas represented the Apostolate of the Gentiles, 
and the independent, progressive -type of Christianity. 

Once, and as far as we know, once only these great leaders of Apostolic Christianity came together 
for public and private conference, at Jerusalem, to decide the great and vital question whether Christi- 
anity should be forever confined to the narrow limits of Jewish traditions with circumcision as the 
necessary term of membership, or whether it should break through these boundaries and become as 
universal as the human race on the sole basis of a living faith in Christ as the all-sufficient Saviour of 
men. Of this critical turning point we have but two accounts, one from the chief actor on the part of a 
free gospel for the Gentiles, in the second chapter of fhis Epistle, and one from his pupil and compan- 



Chap. II. 11-21.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 23 

ion, Luke, in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts. Neither James, Peter, or John make any direct allusion 
to these memorable transactions. The two accounts are not contradictory, but supplementary. Both 
represent the conference as a sharp controversy, ending in a peaceful understanding which saved the 
unity of the Church. The great principle for which Paul contended triumphed, that faith in Christ 
alone, without circumcision, is necessary to salvation, and consequently that circumcision should 
not be imposed upon the Gentile converts. Without this principle Christianity could never have 
conquered the world. On the other hand a temporary concession was made to the Jewish party, 
namely that the Gentiles should " abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from 
things strangled, and from fornication," that is from practices which were peculiarly offensive to the 
conscience of the Jews. Paul was fully recognized by the Jewish Apostles as the Apostle of the Gen- 
tiles and received from them the right hand of fellowship and brotherhood on the sole condition that 
he should remember the poor brethren in Judaea by the exercise of practical charity, which he had 
done before and which he did afterwards with all his heart. 

Nevertheless the old controversy continued, not, indeed, among the Apostles (excepting the dispute 
between Peter and Paul, at Antioch, which referred only to conduct, not to doctrine), but among the un- 
converted Pharisaical Judaizers and Paul ; and the whole career of the great Apostle of the Gentiles was 
a continual struggle against those pseudo-apostles who could never forget that he had been a fanatical 
persecutor, and, who looked upon him as a dangerous radical. To this life-long conflict we owe his 
greatest Epistles, especially the Galatians and the Romans, with their vigorous defence of Christian 
liberty and their profound expositions of the doctrines of sin and grace. Thus error has been provi- 
dentially overruled for the exposition and vindication of truth. (See the next Excursus on Paul and 
Peter.) 



The Collision of Paul with Peter at Antioch. 
Chapter II. 11-21. 

Paul continues to prove his independent Apostolic dignity, and shows that he asserted it even in 
open opposition to Peter at Antioch before the mother congregation of Gentile Christianity, when 
the latter acted inconsistently with his own view concerning our justification before God, and in a 
moment of weakness betrayed the cause of the Gentiles by yielding to the pressure of the Judaizing 
ritualists. Then Paul stood all alone as the champion of Christian liberty. In ver. 15 he passes 
from the personal and historical part to the doctrinal part, namely, the defence of his evangelical 
view of the way of salvation in opposition to the Judaizing legalism of the false teachers. 

The Acts make no mention of this controversy with Peter, but they relate a dispute between Paul 
and Barnabas (xv. 36-40), which took place likewise at Antioch soon after the Apostolic conference, 
and although referring mainly to a personal matter concerning Mark, was in all probability connected 
with the other dispute, inasmuch as Barnabas suffered himself to be led into a similar inconsistency 
by the example of Peter (Gal. ii. 2, 13). 



12 Jd 



UT when Peter 1 was come 2 to Antioch, I withstood him « Acts xv. 35- 
to the face, because he was to be blamed. 3 For before 
that certain came 4 from James, 6 he did eat 5 with the Gen- b Acts x. 28 ; 
tiles: but when they were come, 6 he withdrew and separated Lukexv. 2.' 

13 himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. 7 And 
the other Jews dissembled likewise with him ; insomuch that 

14 Barnabas also 8 was carried away with their dissimulation. But 
when I saw that they walked not uprightly 9 according to c the<r ver. 5 . 
truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter 10 d before them™ all, e If d 1 Tim. v. 20. 
thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not Acts x.' 2 8; 

1 Cephas {according to the best authorities) 2 came 

8 he was condemned * before the coming of certain persons 

5 he used to eat together with 6 came 

7 those of the circumcision 8 so that even Barnabas 9 straight 

10 Cephas u omit them 



2 4 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. II. n-2] 

as do the Jews, 12 why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as 



do the Jews ? 



?13 



/ Acts : 



15 / We who are Jews by nature, and not 9 sinners of the Gen- s veV. J? ; 

16 tiles, 14 ''Knowing 15 that a man is not justified by the works of Eph/'u."' 
the law, 16 but 'by the faith of 17 Jesus Christ, even we have * *«**? \f 
believed 18 in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the'f 1 -/ 4 .'^ ™ 
faith of 19 Christ, and not by the works of the law : 16 for * " by k f s ; ™jji?- a 

17 the works of the law 16 shall no flesh be justified." But if, while &™; ■••;?,! 
we seek 20 to be justified by 21 Christ, we ourselves also are 22 / Eph. t.\, 
found l sinners, is therefore Christ the 23 minister of sin ? God „ Rom. v Hi. 

18 forbid. 24 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I* Rom. vi. 

19 make 25 myself a transgressor. For I m through the 26 law "am « Rom™'; 4 ;, 6 ; 

20 dead to the law, 27 that I might "live unto God. I am 28 ^cruci- iThesIvf 5 
fied with Christ: nevertheless I live; 29 yet not I, 80 but Christ 14; * Peter' 
liveth in me: and the life which I now live 31 in the flesh *l* Rom'.vi. 6; 
live by the faith of the son of God, 32 r who loved me, and gave chap.' vi-V. 

21 himself forme. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for s if *J h * s |- v -' 
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. 33 r *££ . 

12 livest as the Gentiles and not as the Jews tS. ii. 14.' 

18 how is it that thou constrainest the Gentiles to Judaize (or, to live as the * 2 i h f P Heb. 
Tews) S 1 ' Ii; . s , ee 

J _ ' Rom. xi. 6; 

14 We being Jews by nature, and not sinners from among the Gentiles chap. v. 4. 

15 yet knowing 16 by works of law 1Y but only through faith in 
18 even we ourselves became believers 19 by faith in 20 sought 
21 in 22 were 23 a 24 Let it never be (Far from it) 

26 if I build up again the very things which I pulled down, I prove 

26 omit the 27 died unto law 2B have been 

29 omit nevertheless I live s0 and it is no longer I that live 

31 that which I now live (or, so far as I now live) 

82 in faith which is in the Son of God 88 died without cause (gratuitously) 

Ver. 11. The scene here related is of great observing the precepts traditionally traced to 
importance for the history of Apostolic Christian- Noah (comp. Gen. ix. 4, 5) and required from 
ity, but has often been misunderstood and dis- 'proselytes of the gate,' namely, the abstinence 
torted both in the interest of orthodoxy and from 'meats offered to idols, and from blood, and 
heresy. It took place between the Apostolic con- from things strangled, and from fornication' (in- 
ference (A. D. 50) and the second great mission- eluding probably unlawful marriages within the 
ary journey of Paul (a. d. 51). To the same forbidden degrees of kindred, Lev. xvii. 18). 
period must be assigned the personal dispute be- The decree was framed to meet a special tem- 
tvveen Paul and Barnabas on account of Mark, porary emergency and certain specific complaints 
related in Acts xv. 30-40. Barnabas followed the of the Jewish converts against the Gentile breth- 
bad example of Peter (ver. 13), and Mark would ren in regard to these detested practices. But 
naturally sympathize with Barnabas, his cousin the decree made no direct provision for the 
(Col. iv. 10), and with Peter, his spiritual father conduct of the Jewish Christians, who were sup- 
(1 Pet. v. 13). There was, therefore, a double posed to know their duty from the law read every 
reason for the temporary alienation of Paul and Sabbath in the synagogues (xv. 21). And it was 
Barnabas. It appears that soon after the council on this point that the difference of a strict and a 
at Jerusalem a misunderstanding arose as to the liberal construction seems to have arisen. The 
precise bearing of the decree of the council (Acts logic of the decree pointed to a full communion 
xv. 20, 29). That decree was both emancipating with the Gentile brethren, but the letter did not. 
and restrictive ; it emancipated the Gentile con- It was a compromise, a step in the right direc- 
verts from circumcision as a test of church mem- tion, but it stopped half way. It left the Levitical 
bership (on the observance of which the Pharisa- law concerning clean and unclean meats untouched 
ical Judaizers, or 'false brethren' had vainly (Luke xi. 4 ff., comp. Acts x. 14). x The heretical 
insisted), but it laid on them the restriction of 1 Augustine distinguishes three periods in the ceremonial 



Chap. II. 11-21.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



25 



Judaizers considered the whole ceremonial law 
as binding upon all ; James and the conservative 
Jewish brethren as binding only upon Jews ; Paul 
and Peter as abrogated by the death of Christ. 
The conservative party at Jerusalem, under the 
lead of James, understood the decree as not justi- 
fying any departure of the circumcised Christians 
from their traditional rites and habits, and con- 
tinued to maintain a cautious reserve towards 
Gentile Christians and all uncircumcised or un- 
clean persons (Luke xv. 2; Acts x. 28), without, 
however, demanding circumcision ; while the more 
liberal Jewish Christians at Antioch, encouraged 
by the powerful example of Peter, who had been 
freed from narrow prejudices by his vision at 
Joppa, and eaten with the uncircumcised Corne- 
lius at Cassarea (Acts x. 27, 28 ; xi. 3), associated 
with their Gentile brethren in social intercourse, 
and disregarded in their common meals the dis- 
tinction between clean and unclean animal food ; 
they may possibly even have innocently partaken 
of meat offered to idols, which was freely sold at 
the shambles, or at all events they ran the risk 
of doing so. Paul considered this as a matter in 
itself indifferent and harmless, considering the 
vanity of idols, provided that no offence be given 
to weak brethren, in which case he himself would 
'eat no flesh for evermore,' lest he make his 
'brother to stumble ' (1 Cor. viii. 7-13 ; x. 23-33 '■> 
Rom. xiv. 1-4) ; while as to fornication of any 
kind he condemned it absolutely as defiling the 
body which is the temple of God (1 Cor. v. 1-13 ; 
vi. 18-20). This freedom as to eating with Gen- 
tiles threatened to break up a part of the Jeru- 
salem compromise and alarmed the conservative 
Jews. Hence the remonstrance from Jerusalem 
which prevailed on the timid and impulsive Peter, 
and all the Jewish members of the congregation 
at Antioch, even Barnabas, but provoked the vig- 
orous protest of Paul who stood alone in defence 
of Christian liberty and brotherhood on that try- 
ing occasion. This view of the matter seems to 
afford the best explanation of the conduct of both 
James and Peter, without justifying it; for Peter 
certainly denied his own better conviction that 
God is no respecter of persons (Acts x. 34), or 
that in Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew (as 
Paul expresses it, Col. iii. 24), and once more 
denied his Lord in the person of his Gentile dis- 
ciples. The alienation, however, was only tem- 
porary, and did not result in a split of the church. 

The residence of Peter at Antioch gave rise to 
the tradition that he founded the church there 
(A. D. 44, according to the Chronicle of Eusebius) 
before he transferred his see to Rome. The tra- 
dition also perpetuated the memory of the quarrel 
in dividing the church of Antioch into two par- 
ishes with two bishops, Evodius and Ignatius, the 
one instituted by Peter, the other by Paul. 

Cephas is the Apostle Peter mentioned ver. 9, 
and not one of the seventy disciples, as Clement of 
Alexandria and other fathers (also the Jesuit Har- 
duin) arbitrarily assumed in order to clear Peter 
of all blame. — I withstood him to the face, person- 
ally, not secretly or behind the back. It was a 
very bold act of Paul, requiring the highest order 
of moral courage. It seems inconsistent with the 
harmony of the Apostolic church and to reflect 

law: (1.) before Christ it was alive but not life-diving (lex 
viva, sed non vivified); (2.) from Christ to the destruction 
af Jerusalem it was dying but not deadly (moribunda, sed 
non mortifera); (3.) after the destruction of Jerusalem it 
became dead and deadly (mortua et mortifera). 



too severely on Peter, the prince of the Apostles. 
Hence it has always been a stumbling block to 
those who believe, contrary to the explicit con- 
fessions of the Apostles themselves (1 John i. 8 ; 
James iii. 2 ; Phil. iii. 12), that their inspiration 
implied also their moral perfection, or that doc- 
trinal infallibility is inseparable from practical 
impeccability. Several of the most eminent fa- 
thers, Origen, Jerome, and Chrysostom, tried to 
escape the difficulty by a misinterpretation of the 
words 'to the face,' as if they meant, 'according 
to appearance only' {secundum speciem), not in 
reality, and assumed that the dispute had been 
previously arranged by the Apostles for the pur- 
pose of convincing, not Peter, who was right all 
along, but the Jewish Christian members of the 
congregation, that the ceremonial law was now 
abolished. This most unnatural interpretation 
makes bad worse, by charging the hypocrisy upon 
both Paul and Peter, and turning the whole scene 
into a theatrical farce. St. Augustine, from a 
superior moral sense, protested against it, and 
Jerome himself tacitly abandoned it afterwards 
for the right view. The author of the Pseudo- 
Clementine Homilies (an Ebionite fiction of the 
second century, xvii. 19) understands the passage 
correctly, but makes it the ground of an attack on 
St. Paul (under the name of Simon Magus) by 
Peter, who says to him : 'Thou hast withstood me 

to my face If thou callest me condemned, 

thou accusest God who revealed Christ to me.' — 
He was condemned, self-condemned, self-convicted 
by his own conduct, not by the Gentile Christians 
of Antioch, for Paul would hardly have waited, 
for the judgment of others in a matter of such 
importance. The inconsistency carried in it its 
own condemnation, as Paul proves (ver. 15-21). 
The translation 'he was blamed' is not strong 
enough, and the translation of the E. V. ' he was 
to be blamed,' or reprehensible, deserving of cen- 
sure, is ungrammatical and lame. 

Ver. 12. Certain persons from James, not sim- 
ply members of his congregation at Jerusalem, 
but followers, and (as the word 'from' seems to 
indicate) delegates of James of Jerusalem (ver. 
9), and invested with some authority, which they 
abused. We are not to understand by them ' false 
brethren ' (ver. 4), or heretical Jewish Christians 
who taught the necessity of the circumcision for 
all, and made use of the name of James without 
any authority from him ; for Peter would not 
have permitted such men to influence his conduct. 
Yet they were strict and extremely conservative 
Jewish Christians who regarded themselves bound 
to observe the whole law of Moses, without re- 
quiring the same from the Gentile converts. This 
was the position which James himself took at the 
Council (Acts xv. 16-21), and to which he always 
adhered, as we may infer from his advice given to 
Paul (Acts xxi. 20-25), and also from the accounts 
of tradition (especially Hegesippus, who repre- 
sents him as a perfect Jewish saint). It would 
seem from this passage that, soon after the Coun- 
cil, James sent some esteemed brethren of his 
congregation to Antioch, not for the purpose of 
imposing the yoke of ceremonialism upon the 
Gentile Christians, — for this would have been 
inconsistent with his speech at the Council and 
with the synodical letter, — but for the purpose 
of reminding the Jewish Christians of their duty 
and recommending them to continue the observ- 
ance of the divinely appointed and time-honored 
customs of their fathers which were by no means 



26 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. II. 11-21. 



overthrown by the compromise measure adopted 
at the Council. It is unnecessary therefore to. 
charge him with inconsistency. All we can say 
is that he stopped half way and never ventured so 
far as Paul, or even as Peter, who broke through 
the ceremonial restrictions of their native religion. 
Confining his labors to Jerusalem and the Jews, 
James regarded it as his duty to adhere as closely 
as possible to the old dispensation, in the vain 
hope of bringing over the nation as a whole to 
the Christian faith ; while the Apostle of the Gen- 
tiles, on the contrary, owed it to his peculiar mis- 
sion to maintain and defend the liberty of the 
gospel and the rights of the uncircumcised breth- 
ren. 

Renan (St. Paul, ch. x) asserts without proof 
that James deliberately organized a Jewish coun- 
ter-mission and sent delegates to the Gentile 
churches for the purpose of undermining Paul's 
influence and demanding circumcision as a con- 
dition of church membership. This view is as 
wild as the heretical romance of the Pseudo-Clem- 
entine Homilies, and in flat contradiction with the 
public position and profession of James at the 
Council (Acts xv.), and his conduct towards Paul, 
whom he recognized as a brother and fellow- 
Apostle according to Paul's own statement (ver. 
9, comp. i. 19). James was conservative and 
somewhat contracted, but not heretical. 

He used to eat (the imperfect indicates the 
habit) together with the Gentiles, i. e., Gentile 
(uncircumcised) Christians. This is the best 
proof from the pen of Paul himself that Peter 
agreed with him in principle, and for a time 
even in practice. With his accustomed ardor 
Peter carried out his conviction which he had 
boldly professed in Jerusalem, and made com- 
mon cause with the Gentile converts. The Phar- 
isees reproved Christ for eating with sinners 
(Luke xv. 2). The Jews were strictly forbidden 
to eat with unclean persons and idolaters. The 
Gentiles made no distinction between clean and 
unclean animals, and consumed without scruple 
the meat offered to idols and sold on the market. 
The Apostle probably refers here not only to the 
ordinary meals, but also to the primitive love 
feasts (agapae) and the holy communion. A com- 
mon participation of the Lord's Supper was the 
completion and seal of Christian-fellowship and 
church union. We may say that it followed as a 
last consequence from the decree of the Apostolic 
Council, but it was not expressly enjoined, and the 
strict Jewish party thought it unsafe, for the pres- 
ent at least, to venture so far, contenting itself 
with a general recognition of the Gentile brethren, 
and keeping them at a respectful distance. James 
probably shared in this opinion, and may have 
considered Peter too hasty. The same scrupu- 
lous conservatism and exclusivism exists to this 
day in various shapes of close-communism which 
refuses to sit at the Lord's table with Christians 
of any other sect, on account of some difference 
of doctrine or polity or ceremonies. — He with- 
drew and separated himself. ' The words describe 
forcibly the cautious withdrawal of a timid person 
who shrinks from observation.' Characteristic 
for Peter, who was the first to confess Christ, and 
the first to deny him ; the first to recognize the 
rights of the Gentiles, and the first to disown them 
practically. His strength and weakness, his bold- 
ness and timidity are the two opposite manifesta- 
tions of the same warm, impulsive and impressible 
temper. He was, like the Galatians, ' liable to 



sudden transitions from fever-heat to fever-chill ' 
(Macgregor). But he was always ready to con- 
fess his sins and to repent. And this redeeming 
feature makes one sympathize with him in his 
weakness. There was a great deal of human 
nature in him, but also a great deal of divine 
grace which triumphed at last. Blameworthy 
as he was for his inconsistency, he is still more 
praiseworthy for the humility with which he bore 
the sharp rebuke of a younger colleague, and lov- 
ingly commended the Epistles of ' brother Paul ' 
in which his own inconsistency is recorded (2 Pet. 
iii. 15, 16). — Fearing those of the circumcision, 
Jewish converts. 

Ver. 13. The other Jews, i. e., Jewish Christians 
of Antioch, who very naturally suffered themselves 
to be carried away by the example and the high au- 
thority of Peter. — Dissembled likewise with bim, 
were guilty of the same hypocrisy. A very strong, 
yet truthful expression. For we have here no mere 
accommodation to weak brethren for the sake of 
charity and peace, such as Paul himself taught 
and practised (1 Cor. ix. 20; Rom. xiv. 1 ; xv. 3; 
Acts xvi. 3), but a duplicity and self-contradiction 
at the expense of truth, a denial of the better 
conviction to the detriment of the Gentile Chris- 
tians whom Peter acknowledged as brethren in 
theory, and whom he now disowned in practice. 
The logical tendency of this conduct was evi- 
dently to break up the communion of the two 
branches of the church, although he himself would 
no doubt have deplored such a result. — Even 
Barnabas, my friend and co-laborer in the work 
of heathen missions, and fellow champion of the 
liberty of the Gentile brethren. This shows the 
gravity of the crisis and the power of old Jewish 
habits even upon more liberal minds. The word 
even implies sadness arising from respect and 
affection. Comp. Caesar's Et tu, Brute I The 
two friends separated on this occasion, and each 
pursued an independent path (Acts xv. 39), thus 
dividing and doubling the work of mission, but 
Paul afterwards respectfully alludes to Barnabas 
(1 Cor. ix. 6), and to Mark, his cousin (Col. iv. 
16). 

Ver. 14. Straight, uprightly, honestly. Ac- 
cording to (the rule of) the truth. Others, 'to- 
wards,' i. e., so as to maintain the truth of the 
gospel (comp. ver. 5). — Before all, i. e., the as- 
sembled congregation. For only in this public 
way the censure could have its desired effect upon 
the body of the Jewish Christians. 'A public 
scandal could not be privately cured ' (Jerome). 
(Comp. 1 Tim. v. 20.) 

The following verses to the end of the chapter 
are a summary report or dramatic sketch of Paul's 
address to Peter. Vers. 15 to 18 are certainly ad- 
dressed to Peter, but the personal and historical 
narrative imperceptibly loses itself in appropriate 
doctrinal reflections suggested by the occasion and 
admirably adapted to the case of the Galatians, who 
had fallen into the same error. In the third chap- 
ter it naturally expands into a direct attack on the 
Galatians. A similar mingling of narrative and re- 
flection occurs in John iii. 14-21, 31-36. — Livestas 
the Gentiles, according to the manner and custom 
of the Gentiles in regard to eating (ver. 12). The 
present tense 'livest,' or 'art wont to live,' im- 
plies habit and principle (for Peter had partaken 
of unclean food long before, and by divine com- 
mand, Acts x. 10-16, 28 ; xi. 3), and brings out 
more vividly the inconsistency of Peter, who in 
the same breath gave up his native Judaism and 



Chap. II. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



27 



led the Gentile converts back to Judaism. — Why 
art thou constraining (or, compelling), not phys- 
ically and directly, but morally and indirectly, by 
the force of example which is powerful for good 
or evil according to the character and position of 
the man who sets it. It is not necessary to sup- 
pose that the delegates of James required from 
the Gentile converts the observance of the Jewish 
law of meats. James himself, at all events, con- 
fined it to Jewish Christians. But the example 
of such an Apostle as Peter implied a sort of 
moral compulsion even for Gentile Christians. — 
To Judaize, to imitate and adopt Jewish manners, 
to conform to the Jewish religion, without be- 
coming a full Jew. Comp. Romanize, Romanizing 
tendency. 

Ver. 15. Many commentators close here the 
speech of Paul to Peter ; others with ver. 16 ; still 
others with ver. 18. But the words, ' we who are 
Jews by nature,' would not suit the Galatians, 
most of whom were Gentiles by birth, and there 
is no mark of a return of the speech to the Gala- 
tians till iii. 1. — We Jews by birth, and not sin- 
ners, /'. <?., gross sinners without law and without 
God, like the heathen. The two words were 
almost synonymous in the mouth of the Jew. 
Comp. Matt. ix. 13 ; Luke vii. 34 ; Rom. ii. 12 ; 
Eph. ii. 12. 

Ver. 16. Yet knowing that a man is not justi- 
fied by works of law (law-works, Gesetzeszoerke), 
but only through faith in Jesus Christ, we ourselves 
also became believers in Christ Jesus. Here the 
term ' justify ' is first introduced in this Epistle. 
On the important doctrine of justification see the 
Excursus below, and the comments on Rom. i. 17 
and iii. 20. It means acquittal from the guilt 
and punishment of sin in the tribunal of the just 
and holy God, on the ground of Christ's atoning 
death and through the medium of faith by which 
we apprehend Christ's merits and make his right- 
eousness our own. ' By works of law,' the 
whole law, moral as well as ceremonial. — Shall 
no flesh be justified, lit., ' shall all flesh not be 
justified,' or 'find no justification.' An express- 
ive Hebraism. The negation attaches to the 
verb, and not to the noun. But the genius of 
the English language requires such a transposi- 
tion. ' Flesh ' in Hebrew is often used for man, 
living being. The future tense expresses moral 
impossibility : such a thing can never happen. 
The passage is an authoritative confirmation of 
his own statement by an allusion to Ps. cxliii. 
2 : ' Enter not into judgment with Thy servant : 
for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified? 
Comp. Rom. iii. 20, where the passage is quoted 
in the same form with the same addition ' of works 
of law.' 

Vers. 17-19 furnish an example of the con- 
densed and nervous dialectics of Paul, similar to 
Rom. iii. 3-8. The sense is somewhat obscured 
by brevity, and has been differently explained. 
Some make Paul reason from false premises of 
the Judaizers, by drawing from them a logical 
inference which they themselves must repel with 
pious horror. But he rather draws, in the form 
of a question, a false conclusion of the Judaizing 
opponents from correct premises of his own, and 
rejects their conclusion with his usual formula of 
abhorrence ; just as in Rom. vi. 2 he repels a 
false antinomian inference from his correct doc- 
trine of justification by faith : ' Shall we continue 
in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid ! ' His 
argument is this : But (you may object) if by 



seeking gratuitous justification in Christ we had 
to abandon legal justification and sink to the level 
of common ' sinners ' (that is, take our position 
with the profane heathen who know not the law, 
and can only be justified by faith), does it not fol- 
low then (5pa) that Christ instead of abolishing 
sin, promotes sin ? Away with this monstrous 
and blasphemous thought ! On the contrary, 
there is sin in returning to the law after having 
abandoned it for faith in Christ (as Peter did). 

1 myself (Paul now politely chooses the first per- 
son, but means Peter) stand convicted of trans- 
gression if I build up again (as thou doest now 
at Antioch) the very law of Moses which I pulled 
down (as thou didst at Caesarea by divine com- 
mand, and at first in Antioch), and thus condemn 
my own former conduct. For the law itself taught 
me to exchange it for Christ to whom it points 
and leads as a schoolmaster. It would be sin 
therefore to return to it for justification. 

Ver. 17. Were found, discovered, in the eyes 
of God and men, at the time of our conversion 
to Christ and our justification by faith in him. — 
Sinners in the Jewish sense, i. e., lawless heathen, 
as in ver. 15. — A minister of sin, helper, pro- 
moter. — Let it never be ! or ' Far be it ; ' 'By 
no means ; ' ' Away with the thought ; ' ' Nay, 
verily.' This phrase occurs fourteen times in St. 
Paul, thrice in Galatians (ii. 17, 21 ; iii. 21), ten 
times in Romans (iii. 4, 6, 31 ; vi. 2, 15 ; vii. 7, 
13 ; ix. 14 ; xi. 1, n), and once in I Cor. vi. 15. 
It is an expression of strong denial, often mixed 
with moral indignation or aversion, and is here 
and generally used by Paul interjectionally in re- 
butting an unjustifiable inference deduced from 
his teaching by an opponent. The rendering 
' God forbid ' in the E. V. in all these passages 
is strongly idiomatic, but unfortunate, as it im- 
plies a familiar use of God's name then prevalent 
in England, which borders on profanity. There 
is neither ' God ' nor ' forbid ' in the Greek 
phrase. 

Ver. 18. The sin is the other way, in going 
back from Christ to Moses, from the gospel of 
freedom to the law of bondage. Paul speaks 
with delicate consideration in the first person, 
but really means Peter and the Judaizers. He 
supposes a case which actually occurred, and ex- 
poses its folly. Peter in this case proved himself 
an architect of ruin. — The things which I pulled 
down, the Mosaic ordinances, in this case the Le- 
vitical law of meats. Paul frequently uses the 
metaphor of building ; comp. I Cor. iii. 10-14 ; 

2 Cor. v. 1 ; x. 4 ; Rom. xv. 20 ; Eph. ii. 20-22. 
— I prove myself to be a transgressor of the law 
itself, by rebuilding it on the ruins of the gospel 
contrary to its own spirit and intent to prepare 
the way for the gospel as its fulfillment. 

Ver. 19. For I through law died to law (a 
dative of disadvantage) that I might live to God 
(dative of advantage). The same idea is ex- 
pressed in Rom. vii. 4-6 ; Col. ii. 20. Paul gives 
here, in a single sentence, the substance of his own 
experience, which he more fully explains in the 
seventh chapter of Romans. The " I " is here 
Paul himself, and not Peter (as in ver. 18). The 
law itself led him to Christ, so that it would be 
sinful and foolish to return to it again, as Peter 
did. As well might a freedman become a slave, or 
a man return to childhood. The law is a school- 
master to lead to Christ (Gal. iii. 24), by develop- 
ing the sense of sin and the need of redemption. 
But the very object of a schoolmaster is to ele- 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. II. 11-21. 



28 



vate the pupil above the need of his instruction 
and tuition. His success in teaching emancipates 
the pupil. So children nurse at their mother's 
breast, that they may outgrow it, and by passing 
through the school of parental authority and dis- 
cipline they attain to age, freedom, and indepen- 
dence. The ' law ' is therefore to be taken in the 
same sense in both cases of the Mosaic law. 
Comp. Rom. vii. 6-13. Those who (with many 
of the fathers, and even Luther and Bengel) refer 
it in the first clause to the law of Christ (Rom. 
viii. 2), and in the second clause to the law of 
Moses, miss the drift and beauty of ■ the passage. 
' Law ' without the article has a wider sense, and 
is applicable to all kinds of law, as a general rule 
or principle, but chiefly and emphatically to the 
Mosaic law, which is usually indicated by the 
definite article. — That I might live unto God, a 
new life of obedience to the law of Christ, and 
gratitude for the redeeming mercy of God. The 
death of the old man of sin is followed by the 
resurrection of the new man of righteousness. 
This cuts off all forms of antinomianism. 

Ver. 20. I have been crucified with Christ (not 
' am crucified,' as the E. V. has it). Paul means 
the past act which took place in his conversion. 
It is an explanation of the word ' died? ver. 19 
(not ' am dead,' E. V.). Since the law is a school- 
master to Christ who fulfilled it and removed its 
curse by His atoning death on the cross, the be- 
liever is crucified with Christ as to his old, sinful 
nature, but only in order to live a new spiritual 
life with the risen Saviour. Comp. Rom. vi. 5-10 ; 
Gal. v. 24 ; vi. 14 ; Col. ii. 20. And it is no longer 
I that live, or, ' I live no longer myself,' in the un- 
converted state, under the dominion of sin and 
the curse of the law. ' I have no longer a sepa- 
rate existence, I am merged in Christ' (Light- 
foot). The E. V. : 'Nevertheless I live, yet not 
I,' conveys a beautiful and true idea, but is 
grammatically incorrect, since the original has no 
' nevertheless ' nor ' yet.' — But it is Christ that 
liveth in me, Christ, the crucified and risen Re- 
deemer, who is the resurrection and the life, is 
the indwelling, animating, and controlling prin- 
ciple of my life. One of the strongest and clear- 
est passages for the precious doctrine of a real life- 
union of Christ with the believer, as distinct both 
from a mere moral union and sympathy, and from 
a pantheistic confusion and mixture. Christ truly 
lives and moves in the believer, but the believer 
lives and moves also, as a self-conscious person- 
ality, in Christ. Faith is the bond which so unites 
the soul to Christ, that it puts on Christ (iii. 27), 
that it becomes a member of His body, yea flesh 
of His flesh and bone of His bone (Eph. v. 30), 
and derives all its spiritual nourishment from 



Him (John xv. 1 ff.). Comp. Gal. iii. 27 : 'Ye 
did put on Christ ; ' iv. 19 : ' Until Christ be 
formed in you ; ' 2 Cor. i. 3, 5 : 'Jesus Christ is 
in you ; ' Col. iii. 4 : ' When Christ who is our 
life, shall appear ; ' Phil. i. 21 : ' For to me to live 
is Christ ; ' John xv. 5 : ' I am the vine, ye are 
the branches ; ' John xvii. 23 : 'I in them, and 
Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one.' 
— That (life) which I now live in the flesh. ' Now ' 
after my conversion, as compared with my old 
life. ' In the flesh,' in this bodily, temporal form 
of existence. It is explanatory of the preceding 
sentence. The life-union with Christ does not 
destroy the personality of the believer. Even 
his natural mortal life continues in this world, 
but as the earthen vessel containing the heavenly 
treasure of the imperishable life of Christ who 
dwells in him and transforms even the body into 
a temple of the Holy Spirit. — I live in the faith, 
(not ' by,' E. V.) corresponds to 'in the flesh,' 
and conveys the idea that faith is the living ele- 
ment in which Paul moved. — Of the Son of God, 
the object of faith, the eternal Son of the Father 
who has life in himself (John v. 26), and by his 
incarnation and his atoning death on the cross 
has become the fountain of divine life to man. — 
Who loved me, individually, as a personal friend. 
The love of Christ to the whole world applies 
in its full force to each believing soul, as the sun 
pours its whole light and heat with undiminished 
force on every object it reaches. 

Ver. 21. I do not frustrate, or set at nought, 
make of no effect, nullify, as the Judaizers do 
with their assertion of the necessity of the law 
for justification. — The grace of God, which re- 
vealed itself in the infinite love and atoning 
death of Christ, ver. 20. — Christ died (not 'is 
dead,' E. V.) for nought, or 'uselessly,' 'gratuit- 
ously,' i. e., without good cause ; not ' in vain ' 
(i. e., without fruit or effect). If the observance 
of the law of Moses or any other human work 
could justify and save man, the atoning death of 
Christ would be unnecessary as well as fruitless. 
This blasphemous inference gives the finishing 
stroke to the false Judaizing gospel. 

The power of this concluding argument Peter 
could not resist, and he no' doubt felt ashamed 
and humbled at this overwhelming rebuke, as he 
did after the denial of his Master, although Paul, 
from discretion and kindness, says nothing of the 
result of this collision. The effect of it was long 
felt : to the Ebionites it furnished material for 
an attack upon Paul, to the Gnostics for an at- 
tack upon the Jewish apostles, to Porphyry for 
an attack upon Christianity itself. But Christian- 
ity has survived all these attacks, and gains new 
strength from every conflict. 



Excursus on the Controversy of Peter and Paul. 
Chapter II. 11-14. 



The collision of the two Apostles was of course only temporary. Peter showed weakness, Paul 
rebuked him, Peter'submitted, and both continued to labor, at a respectful distance, yet as brethren 
(comp. 1 Cor. ix. 5 ; 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16), for their common Master until they sealed their testimony by 
their blood and met again never more to part in the church triumphant above- The same is true of 
the alienation of Paul from Barnabas and Mark, which took place about the same time, but was ad- 
justed afterwards, as we learn from Paul's respectful allusion to Barnabas (1 Cor. ix. 6), and Mark's 



Chap. II. 11-21.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 29 

later connection with Paul (Col. iv. 10; Philem. 24; 2 Tim. iv. n). 1 At the same time it cannot be 
denied that the scene in Antioch reveals an immense fermentation and commotion in the Apostolic 
Church, which was not a dead unit, but a living process and a struggle of conflicting views and ten- 
dencies with an underlying harmony. On the one hand the quarrel has been greatly exaggerated by 
Celsus, Porphyry, and other enemies of Christianity, old and new, who used it as a weapon against 
the character and inspiration of the Apostles ; on the other hand it has been explained away and 
dishonestly misinterpreted by eminent fathers and Roman commentators in mistaken zeal for a rigid 
and mechanical orthodoxy. 

We take the record in its natural, historical sense, and derive from it the following instructive 
lessons : — 

1. The right and duty of protest against ecclesiastical authority, even the highest, when Christian 
truth and principle are endangered. The protest should be manly, yet respectful. Paul was no 
doubt severe, but yet he recognized Peter expressly as a ' pillar ' of the Church and a brother in 
Christ (Gal. i. 18 ; ii. 9). There was no personal bitterness and rudeness, as we find, alas, in the 
controversial writings of St. Jerome (against Rufinus), St. Bernard (against Abelard), Luther (against 
Erasmus and Zwingii), Bossuet (against Fenelon), and other great divines. 

2. The duty to subordinate expediency to principle, the favor of man to the truth of God. Paul 
himself recommended and practised charity to the weak ; but here a fundamental right, the freedom 
in Christ, was at stake, which Peter compromised by his conduct, after he himself had manfully stood 
up for the true principle at the Council of Jerusalem, and for the liberal practice at Antioch before 
trie arrival of the Judaizers. 

3. The moral imperfection of the Apostles. They remained even after the Pentecostal illumination 
frail human beings, carrying the heavenly treasure in earthen vessels, and stood in daily need of for- 
giveness (2 Cor. iv. 7; Phil. iii. 12 ; James iii. 2 ; I John i. 8; ii. 2). The weakness of Peter is here 
recorded, as his greater sin of denying his Lord is recorded in the Gospels, both for the warning and 
for the comfort of believers. If the chief of the Apostles was led astray, how much more should 
ordinary Christians be on their guard against temptation ! But if Peter found remission, we may 
confidently expect the same on the same condition of hearty repentance. ' The dissension — if dis- 
sension it could be called — between the two great Apostles will shock those only who, in defiance 
of all Scripture, persist in regarding the Apostles as specimens of supernatural perfection.' (Farrar, 
Life and Work of St. Paul, i. 444.) 

4. The collision does not justify any unfavorable conclusion against the inspiration of the Apostles 
and the infallibility of their teaching. For Paul charges his colleague with hypocrisy or dissimula- 
tion, that is, with acting against his own better conviction. We have here a fault of conduct, a tem- 
porary inconsistency, not a permanent error of doctrine. A man may know and teach the truth, and 
yet go astray occasionally in practice. Peter had the right view of the relation of the gospel to the 
Gentiles ever since the conversion of Cornelius ; he openly defended it at the Apostolic Council (Acts 
xv. 7 ; comp. Gal. ii. 1-9), and never renounced it in theory ; on the contrary, his own Epistles agree 
fully with those of Paul, and are in part addressed to the same Galatians with a view to confirm them 
in their Pauline faith ; but he suffered himself to be influenced by some scrupulous and contracted 
Jewish Christians from Jerusalem. By trying to please one party he offended the other, and endan- 
gered for a moment the sound doctrine itself. 

5. The inconsistency here rebuked quite agrees with Peter's character as it appears in the Gospels. 
The same impulsiveness and inconstancy of temper, the same mixture of boldness and timidity, made 
him the first to confess, and the first to deny Christ, the strongest and the weakest among the Twelve. 
He refused that Christ should wash his feet, and then by a sudden change he wished not his feet 
only, but his hands and head to be washed ; he cut off the ear of Malchus, and in a few minutes 
afte'rwards he forsook his Majter and fled ; he solemnly promised to be faithful to Him, though all 
should forsake Him, and yet in the same night he denied Him thrice. If the legend of Domine quo 
vadis (which is first mentioned in the Apocryphal Acts of Peter and Paul) has any foundation in fact, 
he remained ' consistently inconsistent ' to the last. A few days before his execution, it is said, he 
escaped from prison, but when he reached a spot outside of Rome, near the gate of St. Sebastian, 
now marked by a chapel, the Lord appeared to him with a cross, and Peter asked in surprise : ' Lord, 
whither goest thou ? ' {Domine, quo vadis ?) And when the Lord replied : ' I am going to Rome to 
be crucified again,' the disciple returned deeply humbled, and delivered himself to the jailor to be 
crucified head downwards. 

6. It should be remembered, however, on the other hand, first, that the question concerning the 
significance of the Mosaic law, and especially of the propriety of eating meat offered to idols, was a 
very difficult one and continued to be agitated in the Apostolic Church (comp. x Cor. viii.-x. ; Rom. 
xiv.). The decree of the Council at Jerusalem (Acts xv. 20, 29), after all, stated simply the duties of 
the Gentile converts, strictly prohibiting them the use of meat offered to idols, but it said nothing on 
the duties of the Jewish Christians to the former, thus leaving some room for a milder and stricter 
view on the subject. We should also remember that the temptation on the occasion referred to was 
very great, since even Barnabas, the Gentile missionary, was overcome by it. 

_ 7. Much as we may deplore and censure the weakness of Peter and admire the boldness and con- 
sistency of Paul, the humility and meekness with which Peter, the oldest and most eminent of the 
twelve Apostles, seems to have borne the public rebuke of a younger colleague, are deserving of high 
praise. How touching is his subsequent allusion in 2 Pet' iii. 15, 16, which is addressed to the 

1 The words used by Luke of the general controversy in the Council at Jerusalem (Acts xv. 2), are orio-ts (dissension, 
a factious party spirit) and f7)T7)<ris (disputation, questioning) ; the word used of the quarrel between Paul and Barnabas 
(xv. 39), is 7rapofv<7nos, exacerbatio, paroxysm, and implies a warm and sharp contention, heightened in this case by 
the previous friendship and cooperation, yet, after all, passing away as a temporary alienation. The same word is used 
Heb. x. 24 in a good sense of ' provocation to love and good works ' 



30 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. II. 11-21. 

Galatians among others, to the very Epistles of his 'beloved brother Paul,' in one of which his own 
conduct is so sharply condemned. This required a rare degree of divine grace which did its full 
work in him through much suffering and humiliation, as the humble, meek, gentle, and graceful 
spirit of his Epistles abundantly proves. 

8. The conduct of Paul supplies a conclusive argument in favor of the equality of the Apostles and 
against the papal view of the supremacy of Peter. No pope would or could allow any Catholic 
bishop or archbishop to call him to an account and to talk to him in that style of manly independ- 
ence. The conduct of Peter is also fatal to the claim of papal infallibility, as far as morals or dis- 
cipline is concerned ; for Peter acted here officially with all the power of his Apostolic example, and 
however correct in doctrine, he erred very seriously in practice, and endangered the great principle 
of Christian freedom, as the popes have done ever since. No wonder that the story was offensive 
to some of the fathers and Roman commentators, and gave rise to most unnatural explanations. 

We may add that the account of the Council in Jerusalem in Acts xv. likewise contradicts the 
Vatican system, which would have required a reference of the great controversy on circumcision to 
the Apostle Peter rather than to a council under the presidency of James. 

9. The Apostolic Church is typical and foreshadows the whole course of the history of Christen- 
dom. Peter, Paul, and John represent as many ages and phases of the Church. Peter is the rock of 
Catholicism, Paul the rock of evangelical Protestantism. Their temporary collision at Antioch an- 
ticipates the world-historical antagonism of Romanism and Protestantism, which continues to this 
day. It is an antagonism between legal bondage and evangelical freedom, between Judaizing con- 
servatism and Christian progress. Jerusalem, Rome, and Petersburg are in different degrees on 
the side of Peter; Wittenberg, Geneva, and Oxford — at various distances and with temporary re- 
actions — follow the standard of Paul. Let us hope also for a future reconciliation in the ideal 
Church of harmony and peace which is symbolized by John, the bosom friend of Christ, the seer 
of the heavenly Jerusalem. 

Paul and Peter, as far as we know from the New Testament, never met again after this scene in 
Antioch. But ecclesiastical tradition reports that they were tried and condemned together in Rome, 
and executed on the same day (the 29th of June), Peter, the Galilasan disciple, on the hill of the 
Janiculum, where he was crucified ; Paul, the Roman citizen, on the Ostian road at the Tre Fontane, 
where he was beheaded. Their martyr blood thus mingled is still a fountain of life to the church 
of God. 



Exctirsus on Justification. 
Chapter II. 16, 17. 

The doctrine of justification by faith is one of the fundamental doctrines of Paul, and is set forth 
most fully in this Epistle and in that to the Romans. How shall a sinner be justified before a holy 
God ? This was a vital question in the Apostolic age, and came very near splitting the Church. It 
shook Western Christendom again in the sixteenth century, and divided it into two camps. It is no 
idle scholastic dispute, but involves the peace of conscience and affects man's whole conduct. It is 
nearly equivalent to the question : 'What shall I do to be saved ? ' 

To this question there were two answers. The Pharisaical Jews and Christian Judaizers said : 
' Man is justified by works of the law.' Paul said just as emphatically : ' Man is justified by faith in 
Christ.' The Judaizers would not deny the importance and necessity of faith in Christ, but practi- 
cally they laid the main stress upon works, and hence they demanded circumcision as a term of 
church membership, and a sign and pledge for the observance of the whole Mosaic law. Paul reasons 
in this chapter that to return to the law for justification is virtually to abandon Christ, and to declare 
his death needless and fruitless. 

The following are the chief points to be considered here : — 

1. The verb to justify (5ikcu6o>) may be used both in an efficient and in a judicial sense, i. e., (1.) to 
make just, to transform a sinner into a saint ; (2.) to declare just, to acquit. In Hellenistic Greek, and 
especially in Paul's Epistles, it has the judicial or forensic meaning. This appears — 

(a.) From the equivalent terms 'to reckon,' or 'to account for righteousness.' Gal. iii. 6; Rom. 
iv. 3, 5, 9, 23, 24 ; James ii. 23. 

(b.) From the phrase to be justified 'before God,' or 'in the sight of God,' i. e., before His tribunal. 
Gal. iii. 11 ; Rom. iii. 20. 

(c.) From such passages where God or Christ is said to be justified. God is just and cannot be 
made just, but He may be accounted or declared just by man. Rom. iii. 4 (from Ps. Ii. 4) ; I Tim. 
iii. 16; comp. Matt. xi. 19; Luke vi. 29, 35. 

(d.) From the opposite phrase to condemn. Matt. xii. 37 : 'By thy words shalt thou be justified, 
and by thy words shalt thou be condemned ; ' Deut. xxv. I : ' The judges shall justify the righteous 
and condemn the wicked ;' Prov. xvii. 15. 

2. Consequently 'justification ' (SiKalaais, Rom. iv. 25 ; v. 18) is a judicial act of acquittal, in oppo- 
sition to condemnation. 

Now there may be two kinds of justification, legal and evangelical. The former would be a reward 
of merit, the latter is a free gift of grace. We may be justified and accepted by God on the ground 
of our good works, the observance of His law, that is, because we are really righteous and deserving 
of acceptance ; or we may be justified gratuitously on the ground of the merits of Christ the right- 
eous, as apprehended by a living faith. 



Chap. III. I-I4-] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 31 

But justification by works is impossible, because we are all sinners by nature and practice, and 
justly exposed to the wrath of God. We cannot in our own strength observe the divine law ; if we 
could, there would have been no need of a Saviour and his death to atone for our sins. The more 
we try to keep the law, the more are we driven to a conviction of sin and guilt and to a painful sense 
of the need of redemption. This is the pedagogic or educational mission of the law. It is in itself 
' holy, just, and good,' but it is opposed and defeated by the power of sin in the flesh, or the corrupt 
nature of man, which it cannot overcome. It is therefore no 'quickening spirit,' but a 'killing letter.' 
The best it can do is to bring the moral decease to a crisis by revealing sin in its true nature, and 
thus to prepare the way for the cure. 1 

3. Hence we are shut up to gratuitous justification by the free grace of God through faith in Christ 
who came into the world for the very purpose of redeeming us from the curse of the law and the 
guilt and power of sin. God is the judge ; we stand charged before His tribunal with violation of 
his holy law ; Christ steps in with his merits as our surety ; we accept Him as our Saviour, in sin- 
cere repentance and faith ; God pronounces us just for His son's sake, pardons our sins and adopts 
us as His children. This is justification as taught by Paul. The atoning death of Christ is the meri- 
torious ground of our justification ; a living faith in Him is the condition on our part; a holy obe- 
dience is the evidence or necessary consequence. 

4. For it is impossible truly to believe in Christ without following his example. We are not justified 
outside of Christ, but in Christ, standing in Him, united with Him, identified with Him, consecrated 
to Him. Faith without works is dead. Paul demands a faith which is 'operative by love' (Gal. v. 
16). He insists on good works fully as much as his Judaizing opponents, but as a result of justi- 
fication, not as a condition of it. The truly good works are works of faith and manifestations of 
gratitude to God for his redeeming love in Christ. Paul only carried out the teaching of Christ who 
attributes saving power not to love or hope or works of men, but to faith. 'Thy faith hath saved 
thee ; ' ' He that believeth in Me hath (already here and now) eternal life.' In all these cases faith 
is not merely a theoretical belief, but trust of the heart, repose of the will in Christ, an outgoing of 
the whole inner man towards Him as our Saviour. Faith is the bond of a vital union with Christ 
and appropriates his righteousness and all his benefits. ' It is a living, busy, active, mighty power, 
and cannot possibly cease from working good.' The same grace of God which justifies, does also 
regenerate and sanctify. Faith and love, justification and sanctification are as inseparable in the life 
of the true Christian as light and heat in the rays of the sun. 

Paul's doctrine of justification then differs as widely from antinomianism which denies the necessity 
of good works, as it differs from Jewish legalism, and all its kindred errors which make good works 
an antecedent condition of justification and virtually teach that man is his own Saviour. 

5. Paul's doctrine of justification is a source of unspeakable comfort and peace. It humbles our 
pride, it gives us a full assurance of pardon, it fills us with a deep sense of the boundless love of 
God, and the all-sufficient salvation of Christ. It acts as the strongest stimulus of gratitude and 
entire consecration to the service of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. 



CHAPTER III. 

Contents : I. The Justification by Faith, and the Curse of the Law, vers. 1-14 ; 
II. The Educational Significance of the Law, vers. 15-29. ' 

The yitstification by Faith, and the Curse of the Law. 
Chapter III. 1-14. 

Paul addresses himself again directly to the Galatians with an expression of his indignant surprise 
at the folly of their relapse into Judaism, and passes from the historical to the doctrinal part of the 
Epistle, from the apology of his apostolic authority to the defence of his apostolic teaching concern- 
ing justification by faith and evangelical freedom, in opposition to the slavish legalism which would 
make Christ's death superfluous and useless. He first reminds the readers of their own experience 
which must teach them that they received the Holy Spirit not through the law, but through faith 
(vers. 1-5) ; and then he appeals to the example of Abraham who was justified by faith, and whose 
genuine children are those who believe like him (vers. 6-9). The law on the contrary pronounces 
the curse upon every transgressor, and cannot possibly justify any man, since they are all transgres- 
sors (vers. 10-12). Christ alone by His atoning death delivered us from this curse (vers. 13, 14). 

1 Milton has a striking passage (Parad. Lost, xii. 285) in illustration of Paul's doctrine : — 
'And therefore Law was given them to evince 
Tlieir natural pravity, by stirring up 
Sin against Law to fight ; that when they see 
Law can discover sin, but not remove, 
Save by those shadowy expiations weak, 
The blood of bulls and goats, they may conclude 
Some blood more precious must be paid for man.' 



32 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. III. 1-14. 

1 /~\ FOOLISH Galatians, "who hath 1 bewitched you, that * chap. v. 7i 

II J comp. Acts 

V-/ ye should not b obey the truth, 2 before whose eyes Jesus ™>- 9, «. 
Christ hath been evidently set forth, e crucified among you? 3t .'.Cor.i.2,3; 

2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye d the Spirit by the rf Xcfsii 4; s- 

3 works of the law, 4 ' or by the hearing 5 of faith ? Are ye so ™!' x I v. i 8 X ; 
foolish ? f having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect Heb.vi^i 

4 by ° the flesh ? 6 h Have ye suffered 7 so many things in vain ? ' Rom.il 16, 

5 if it be yet 8 in vain. He therefore 'that ministereth to you/cLp. ; v . 9; 
the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, 9 doeth he it w by^ Heb.vii.16; 
the works of the law, 11 or by the hearing 12 of faith ? * HetTx. 3S , 

6 Even as * ' Abraham believed God, and it was accounted ls _ i. ' 2 

7 to him for righteousness.' Know ye 14 therefore that ' they * gen. - xv. 6; 
which I5 are of faith, the same are the children 16 of Abraham. ?>«,•«; 

James n. 23. 

8 And m the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the l J° hn viii - " 
heathen 17 through faith, preached before the gospel 18 unto ^veY'j^'iv 

9 Abraham, saying, n ' In thee shall all nations 19 be blessed.' So ^ ; m se f x . 17 
then they which be 20 of faith are blessed with 21 faithful Abra- * £&;$: 3; 
ham. SfS'^S 

10 For as many as are of the works of the law 22 are under 



18; Ac 



the 23 curse: for it is written, "'Cursed is every one that con-^DEUT.xxvii. 

26 ; Jer. xi. 

tinueth not in all things which are written in the book of the 3- 
ii law to do them.' But ^that no man is justified by the law 24 / chap. ii. 16. 



in the sight of God, it 25 is evident : for, q 'The just 26 shall live? 



12 by faith.' And r the law is not of faith: but, "The man that Heb. x. 38. 

J r Rom. iv. 4, 

13 doeth them 27 shall live in them.' * Christ hath 28 redeemed us '^f s,6i 
from the curse of the law, being made 29 a curse for us : for it* ^f^ 
is written, "'Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree : ' t £" hap . iv-s . 

14 "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles fcw.™^ 35 ; 

through 30 Jesus Christ; that we might receive w the promise of « Deutlxri. 1 ' 

the Spirit through faith. v R om . iv. 9 , 

16. 

..,,,, w Acts ii. 33 ; 

1 omit hath ls.xxxii.is; 

2 The best authorities omit the words that ye should not obey the truth. ^[ 3 -}J eT ' 
{Probably a gloss from chap. v. 7.) xxxii. 40 ; 

8 was openly set forth among you, as crucified. (Some of the best MSS. xxxvi. 27 ;. 
omit among you.) 4 Did ye receive the Spirit by works of law ? 2 ^ z'ech.' 

5 preaching (message) 6 are ye now ending (finishing) in the flesh ? j"^ ^; 39 . 

7 Did ye experience 8 if it be really (indeed) 9 powers in you 

10 doth he do so n by works of law 12 preaching 13 reckoned 

14 Ye perceive {indicative') 15 those who 16 sons 

17 God justifieth the Gentiles 18 declared beforehand the good tidings 

19 all the Gentiles ao those who are 21 insert the 

22 of works of law (law-works) 23 omit the 24 lit. in law (by law) 

25 omit it 26 Or, the righteous 

27 He that hath done them (i. e. observed the commandments) 
1,8 omit hath 29 by becoming 30 in 



Chap. III. 1-14.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



33 



Ver. 1. senseless Galatians, to think that 
righteousness comes through the law, and thus 
virtually to deny the necessity and efficacy of 
Christ's death (ii. 21). No reference to natural 
dullness or stupidity (for the Galatians, like all 
the Celtic races, were bright and intelligent), but 
to spiritual folly. The same word is used by our 
Lord of the disciples of Emmaus (Lukexxiv. 25). 
— Did bewitch you, fascinate with his evil eye. 
The relapse from the freedom of the gospel to 
the slavery of the law is so absurd that it seems 
only explicable on the assumption of magical 
agency. The Greek word dSao-Kctceie), originally 
referred to witchery by spells or incantations, 
then to the blighting influence of the evil eye 
(especially on children), according to a common 
belief still prevalent in Egypt and throughout the 
East, also in Italy ('occhio cattivo'), and among 
the Celts in Brittany. It implies the envious 
spirit of the false teachers and their baleful influ- 
ence on the Galatians. 1 — Before whose eyes Jesus 
Christ was evidently (or, conspicuously) set forth. 
This signifies the life-like, pictorial vivacity, and 
effectiveness of Paul's preaching of Christ and 
Him crucified, who by his death delivered us from 
the curse and slavery of the law and reconciled 
us to God. The Greek verb is used of placard- 
ing public notices and proclamations. More 
freely we might translate : ' You, before whose 
very eyes was held up the picture of Jesus Christ 
on the cross.' Faithful preaching is the best 
painting. Paul intimates that the actual sight 
of Christ's death could not have affected them 
more powerfully than his preaching. ' When the 
church has such painters, she needs no longer 
dead images of wood and stone.' (Calvin). — 
Among you, lit. 'in you ' (omitted by some of the 
best editors) may be connected either with the 
verb ' set forth,' as a redundant phrase (not only 
by letter from a distance, but by my own perso- 
nal presence and preaching), or with 'crucified,' 
in this sense : The crucifixion has been so graph- 
ically described to you as if it had occurred in the 
midst of you and in your very hearts. The for- 
mer is preferable on account of the order of 
words. — Crucified is emphatically placed at the 
end, as in 1 Cor. i. 23 : ' We preach Christ, and 
him crucified,' and 1 Cor. ii. 2. The perfect par- 
ticiple implies the permanent character and result 
of the crucifixion. Christ crucified is the greatest 
conqueror, and draws all hearts to him. Comp. 
John xii. 32. 

Ver. 2. Paul appeals to their own experience at 
their conversion, which alone should be sufficient 
to convince them of the error of their present po- 
sition. This only, among other concessions which 
I might draw from your own spiritual experience. 
The ' only ' indicates that this is sufficient. Was 
it by works of law (law-works, Gesetzeswerke) that 
ye received the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the great- 
est of gifts. He is communicated to believers 
through the gospel, regenerates and sanctifies and 
makes them children of God and heirs of eter- 
nal life. In the apostolic age, the Spirit man- 
ifested itself also in extraordinary gifts such as 
speaking in tongues, prophesying, working of mir- 
acles (comp. Acts viii. 17 ; x. 44-46 ; xix. 6 ; I 
Cor. xii.-xiv.) — From the preaching (or, message, 

1 Coleridge (Lady Christabel): — 

' So deeply had she drunken in 
That look, those shrunken serpent eyes, 
That all her features were resigned 
To this sole image of her mind.' 

3 



not ' hearing ') of faith, comp. ver. 5 ; 1 Thess. 
ii. 13 ; Heb. iv. 2; and Rom. x. 17: 'faith Com- 
eth from preaching, and preaching through the 
word of God.' The Greek (okotJ) admits of two 
meanings : (1.) active : the hearing of faith, i. e., 
the reception of the gospel preached (comp. 'obe- 
dience of faith,' Rom. i. 5 ; xvi. 26) ; (2.) passive : 
the report, the message which treats of faith 
(genit. of the object). Lightfoot adopts the first, 
but the second is preferable on account of the 
usual meaning of the word in the New Testament, 
and because the contrast is between the two prin- 
ciples, law and faith, not between two actions, 
doing and hearing. The emphasis lies on ' law ' 
and 'faith.' In the New Testament, 'faith' is 
mostly used in the subjective sense of the act and 
exercise of faith, not in the objective sense of 
doctrine of faith or creed. Faith is the organ by 
which we receive the Holy Spirit through the 
preaching of the gospel. 

Ver. 3. Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now 
ending (or finishing) in the flesh? A fine irony. 
The middle voice of the Greek verb (iTnreKricrBi;) 
is preferable to the passive ('are ye now brought 
to perfection') on account of the correspondence 
with ' begun,' and on account of the parallel pas- 
sages, Phil. i. 6 (' he who began a good work in 
you will finish it '), and 2 Cor. viii. 6. ' Spirit' and 
' flesh ' represent here the spiritual religion which 
makes man free, and the carnal religion which 
makes him a slave to outward forms and observ- 
ances. 

Ver. 4. Did ye experience so many things in 
vain ■? The usual rendering ' suffer ' would refer 
to persecutions which the Galatians had to en- 
dure (probably from the Jews) ; but as we know 
nothing of them, it seems preferable to take the 
Greek verb (iirddeTe) in the neutral and wider 
sense (otherwise not found in the New Testa- 
ment, except perhaps in Mark v. 26), embracing 
all spiritual experiences (blessings and benefits 
as well) of the Galatians (comp. vers. 3 and 5). — 
If it be really in vain. This leaves room for 
doubt ; the Apostle cannot believe that the Gala- 
tians will lose all the benefit of their spiritual 
experiences and continue in their folly. Others 
take the words in the sense : 'if it be only in 
vain,' and not much worse ; since spiritual expe- 
periences increase the responsibility and risk. 
Comp. Luke xii. 47, 48 ; 2 Pet. ii. 21. 

Ver. 5. The present tense ministereth and 
worketh is used to indicate the continued com- 
munication and abundant supply of the spiritual 
gifts. — Powers, miraculous powers, 1 Cor. xii. 
10, 28, 29. — In you, i. e., in your heart and will ; 
comp. Matt. xiv. 2. Paul probably means the 
moral miracles of regeneration and conversion. 
Others understand here physical miracles wrought 
'among you,' i. e. in the midst of you. 

Ver. 6. The only reply the Galatians could 
make to the foregoing question was : ' By the 
preaching of faith.' Taking this for granted, 
Paul proceeds (as in Rom. iv. 1) to give the his- 
torical and scriptural proof from the example of 
Abraham, the father of the faithful. The words 
are a quotation from Gen. xv. 6 (Sept.). The 
emphasis lies on believed, i. e., trusted in God. 

Ver. 7. Ye perceive, therefore. The Greek may 
be the indicative or the imperative. The former 
agrees better with the argumentative character 
of the sentence and with the particle 'there- 
fore' (&pa). Others maintain that the imperative 
('know ye') is more animated. — Those of faith, 



34 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. III. 1-14. 



emphatic, no others, in opposition to the self- 
righteous men of the law. ' They whose start- 
ing-point, whose fundamental principle is faith.' 
Comp. Rom. ii. 8 ; iv. 14 (in Greek). 

Ver. 8. The Scripture, personified, as in ver. 
22, for the author of the Scripture. — Justifieth, 
now when Paul wrote, and at all times. It is the 
normal present indicating the only way of God's 
justification, and sure accomplishment of his pur- 
pose. — Declared beforehand the good tidings. 
The promise to Abraham was an anticipation of 
the gospel, i. e., the good tidings of salvation by 
Christ. — In thee, as the spiritual father. Quota- 
tion from two passages (Gen. xii. 3, and xviii. 18), 
which are fused into one. The blessing promised 
includes the whole Christian salvation, which im- 
plies justification, i e., the remission of sins and 
imputation of Christ's merit. 

Ver. 9. The emphasis lies on faith, as in ver. 7. 

Vers. 10-12. Negative proof of ver. 9, by 
showing the impossibility of justification by law, 
because we cannot keep the law, and the viola- 
tion of the law subjects us to its curse (comp. 
Rom. iii. 9-20 ; vii. 7-25). No man lives up even 
to his own imperfect standard of goodness, much 
less to the perfect rule of the revealed will of the 
holy God. 

Ver. 10 confirms ver. 9 by the opposite. As 
many as are of law-works, are controlled by the 
principle of law, and shape their character by 
works, are under curse, i. e., subject to curse 
(comp. 'under sin,' Rom. iii. 9). — For it is writ- 
ten, etc. A free quotation from Deut. xxvii. 26 
(Sept.), the closing sentence of the curses from 
Mount Ebal, and a summary of the whole. 

Vers. 11 and 12 contain the following syllo- 
gism : The just lives by faith ; the law is not of 
faith : consequently no man is justified by the 
law. 

Ver. 11. Now that in (the) law no man is jus- 
tified in the sight of God, is evident. ' In ' is ele- 
mental and instrumental, 'in and by,' or 'under' 
the law, in the sphere and domain of the law. 
' In the sight,' in the judgment of God ; man 
standing as a culprit before His tribunal. For the 
righteous shall live by faith. From Hab. ii. 4, ac- 
cording to the Septuagint. Comp. note to Rom. 
i. 17. The passage refers originally to the preser- 
vation of the righteous Israelite amidst the ruin 
of the Chaldasan invasion. The stress lays on 
' faith,' as the power which gives life. ' By faith ' 
must not be joined with ' righteous,' but with 
' shall live ' ; this is required by the original He- 
brew ('the righteous shall live by his faith,' 1 or 
'his fidelity'), by the rendering of the Septuagint 
('the righteous shall live by my faith' or accord- 
ing to another reading : ' my righteous shall live 
by faith'), and by the contrast between 'live by 
faith,' and 'to live in them,' i. e., in the command- 
ments (ver. 12). The Old Testament, then, al- 
ready declares faith to be the fountain of spirit- 
ual life and salvation, or rather the organ by 
which we apprehend and appropriate the saving 
grace of God in Christ to our individual use and 
benefit. 

Ver. 12. The law is not of [springs not from] 
faith, but [declares], 'He who hath done them' 
[z. e., the statutes and judgments, previously men- 
tioned in the Old Testament passage,] ' shall live 
in them.' Quotation from Lev. xviii. 5. The life- 
element of the law is not faith, but work. Doing 



is the essential thing in law. Faith receives the 
gift of God, the law requires us to give, to per- 
form all its enactments. 

Ver. 13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of 
the law by becoming a curse for us. One of the 
strongest passages for the doctrine of a vicarious 
atonement. Christ, out of infinite love and in full 
agreement with the Father's eternal plan of re- 
demption, voluntarily assumed, bore and abol- 
ished, by His death on the cross, the whole curse 
of the outraged law in the stead and in behalf of 
sinners. The vicarious efficacy lies not so much 
in the preposition ' for,' as in the whole sentence. 
What He did and suffered for men, He did and 
suffered in their stead, and what He suffered in 
their stead, He suffered for their benefit. — ' Re- 
deemed,' delivered (by one act accomplished, once 
and for all) by a ransom, i. e., Christ's life offered 
on the cross. Comp. Matt. xx. 28 (He 'gave his 
life a ransom for many ') ; 1 Tim. ii. 6 ; 1 Cor. v. 
20 ; vii. 23 ; Tit. ii. 14 ; Rev. v. 9 ; xiv. 4. — 'By 
becoming a curse,' stronger, and yet milder than 
'accursed.' Christ was the voluntary bearer of 
the entire guilt of the whole race, yet without any 
personal guilt. The curse is transferred from the 
guilty sinner to the innocent victim (as in the case 
of the typical scape-goat. Lev. xvi. s. ff.). Comp. 
2 Cor. v. 21 : ' Him [Christ] who knew no sin fie 
[God] made to be sin [stronger than sinner] for 
us (or, on our behalf) ; that we might become 
the righteousness of God in Him.' — ' For us,' 
on our behalf, for our sakes. — For it is written, 
etc. A parenthetic justification from Deut. xxi. 
23 (Sept.) of the startling expression just used. 
The passage refers to those criminals who after 
being stoned were hung up on a stake (probably 
on the form of a cross), but were not permitted 
to remain in this position over night, lest the holy 
land should be desecrated. Our Saviour fulfilled 
the legal curse by hanging dead on the cross. 
Paul significantly omits the words ' of God ' which 
are in the Septuagint and in the Hebrew. For 
Christ was not Himself accursed of God, but only 
in a vicarious sense, that is, by the voluntary self- 
assumption of the curse of others, and in full har- 
mony with the Father's wish and will, who, far 
from hating his own beloved Son, delighted in 
His sacrifice on the cross as 'a sweet-smelling 
savor' (Eph. v. 2), and in the execution of His 
own eternal purpose of redeeming mercy. Rid- 
dle : ' Two curses are mentioned by Paul. The 
one: 'Cursed is everyone that continueth not,' 
etc. (ver. 10). That curse lay on all mankind. 
The other : ' Cursed is every one that hangeth on 
a tree ' (ver. 13). This curse Christ took that He 
might redeem us from the first. Both were curses 
in and of the law. The one specifies the guilt, 
the other the punishment. Christ bore the ac- 
cursed punishment, and thus took away the ac- 
cursed guilt. He stood for the every 07ie who 
continueth not, by becoming the very 07ie who 
hung upon the tree.' 

Ver. 14. The blessing of Abraham, justification 
by faith and the whole Messianic salvation. — We, 
i. e., all Christians whether of Jewish or Gentile 
descent. — Keceive the promise of the Spirit, re- 
fers back to ver. 2. ' After a wondrous chain of 
arguments, expressed with equal force, brevity, 
and profundity, the apostle comes back to the 
subject of ver. 2 ; the gift of the Holy Ghost 
came through faith in Jesus Christ.' (Ellicott.) 



Chap. III. 15-29.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 35 

The Educational Mission of the Law. 
Chapter III. 15-29. 

Paul now assumes a milder tone, and reasons with the Galatians from the common dealings of 
men. Even a human covenant is sacred and cannot be set aside, much more a divine covenant. 
Hence the promise of God to Abraham and to his seed, i. e., to his believing posterity summed up 
in Christ, cannot be annulled by the law which came in several hundred years later (vers. 15-18), but 
the law intervened between the promise and its fulfilment, or between Abraham and Christ as a 
school of discipline, or as a schoolmaster to prepare men for the freedom in Christ (19-24), so that 
now by faith in Christ we are no more slaves, but sons and heirs (25-29). 

15 T)RETHREN, I speak after the manner of men; a Though « Heb. ix. , 7 . 
J— ' it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, 1 no man 

' ■> J Gen. xii. 7; 

16 disannulleth, 2 or addeth thereto. Now b to Abraham and his ™\[ 15 ' s 
seed were the promises made. 3 He saith not, 'And to seeds,' c ^ ^i 7 '' 
as of many ; but as of one, c ' And to thy seed,' which is d Christ. d compters. 

17 And this I say, 4 that 5 the 6 covenant, that was confirmed be- corf™, k, 
fore of God in Christ, 7 the law, e which was 8 four hundred and*. Ex.xii. 4 o, 
thirty years after, cannot disannul, 9 ^that it should make the vii!6.° 

18 promise of none effect. 10 For if g the inheritance be of the 11 hT^'m! 
law, h it is no more of promise: but God gave 12 it to Abra-^i? ™ V 

. ' F & ARom.iv.x4. 

ham by promise. 

• Rom. : 



10 Wherefore then serveth the law ? 13 f It was added 14 because v. 2o;vii.s) 

' 13 ; t Tim 

of 15 transgressions, till *the seed should come 16 to whom the i^9- 



Tim. 
53! 



20 the hand m of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator m 2 f x 2 ™- 

2 1 of one, 21 " but God is one. Is the law then against the prom- ^"'j/;, 
ises of God ? God forbid : 22 ° for if there had been a law given f\ J A ^ 
which could have given life, 23 verily righteousness should have Tim 3 fi. ; = 

22 been by the law. 24 But p the Scripture hath concluded 25 * all 26 * 3 ^ om,iii ' 
under sin, r that the promise by faith of 27 Jesus Christ might ° p ver.V'' 

23 be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were ? i£%Ti 

32- 

1 Even a man's covenant when it hath been ratified 2 no one annulleth r ^ om .- lv - 

8 and to his seed {after the verb on account of the eniphasis on seed) 
4 Now this is what I (mean to) say 5 omit that 6 a 

7 ratified {or, established) beforehand by God unto Christ. Some of the old- 
est MSS. omit the words unto Christ 8 came 9 annul 
10 so as to make void the promise n omit the 12 hath freely given 

13 What then is {the use of) the law ? 

14 superadded {according to the better reading irpoo-6Te'5?j) 15 insert the 
16 shall have come " hath been made 18 omit and it was 

19 being ordained through 20 by 

21 Now the (the art. is generic) mediator is not of one (a mediator does not 

belo?ig to o?ie party, but requires at least two parties') 

22 Far be it (or, May it never happen) 23 such as could make alive 
24 would, indeed, have come from law 26 shut up 

26 all things (r& inivra) <" in 



36 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. 

kept under the law, shut up 28 unto the faith which should after- 

24 wards be revealed. 29 Wherefore 5 the law was our schoolmaster 
to bring us unto Christ, 30 ' that we might be justified by faith. 

25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a school- 

26 master. 31 For ye " are all the children 32 of God by 33 faith, in 

27 Christ Jesus. For * as many of you as have been 3i baptized 

28 "'into Christ ^have 35 put on Christ. y There is neither Jew 
nor Greek, z there is neither bond nor free, "there is neither 36 

29 male nor 37 female : for ye are all & * one in Christ Jesus. And 
c if ye be 39 Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and 40 d heirs 
according to the 41 promise. 



III. 



15-29- 



s Matt. v. 17; 
Rom. x. 4 ; 
Col. ii. 17 ; 
Heb. ix. 9, 

t Acts xiii. 39 j 
chap. ii. 16. 

u Chap. iv. 5, 
6; John i. 
12 ; Rom. 
viii. 14, is, 
16; 1 John 



v Rom. vi. 3. 
iv Matt. 

xxviii. 19. 
x Rom. xiii. 

H- 
y Chap. v. 6. 
z Col. iii. 11. 
a Comp. 1 

Cor.xi. 11. 
b John x. 16 ; 



28 we were shut up and kept in ward under the law 

29 for the faith about to be revealed 

80 So then the law hath been our tutor unto Christ 

32 sons 33 through 34 were 86 did 3 

38 all are 39 are 40 omit and 41 omit the 



Eph. 



31 tutor 



d Rom. viii. 

17; chap. 

28; Eph. iii. 6 



Ver. 15. Brethren. Winning address, contrast- 
ing with the severe rebuke, ver. I ; comp. iv. 31 ; 
vi. 1. 'There is a touch of tenderness in the ap- 
peal here, as if to make amends for the severity 
of the foregoing rebuke' (Lightfoot). — After the 
manner of men, refers to the following illustration 
taken from human relations. An argument a 
fortiori. If even changeable men keep legal con- 
tracts sacred, how much more the unchangeable 
God. The Judaizers altered the covenant with 
Abraham by adding new conditions, and thus vir- 
tually set it aside. — Covenant. Such was the 
nature of the promise of God to Abraham (Gen. 
xv. 18; xii. 7). The translation 'will,' 'testa- 
ment' (in the margin of the E. V.), is unsuited to 
the connection, and the translation ' promise ' is 
ungrammatical. In the Septuagint and in the 
Greek Testament, the word 8ia0^K7j always means 
'covenant,' except in Heb. ix. 15-17, and the 
rendering of the E. V. 'testament' (from the 
Vulgate, and in accordance with classical usage) 
in Matt. xxvi. 28, and other passages should be 
corrected. The designation of the ' Old and New 
Testament' (instead of 'Covenant') arose from 
this mistranslation, and is especially improper in 
the case of the Old Covenant (since God cannot 
die), but has become so well established that it 
must be retained. 

Ver. 16 introduces the new idea that the cove- 
nant of promise was not made with Abraham 
only, but with his whole seed which centres in 
Christ, and was therefore still waiting its fulfil- 
ment at the time when the law was given ; so that 
it could not be abolished by the law. The em- 
phasis lies on the words : ' and to his seed,' 
which look beyond the law of Moses and to 
Christ's coming. — And to thy seed, Gen. xiii. 15 ; 
xvii. 8 : 'And I will give unto thee, and thy seed 
after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, 
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting pos- 
session ; and I will be their God.' The prom- 
ised inheritance refers evidently in its next and 
literal sense to the land of Canaan, but in its 
deeper spiritual sense to the kingdom of Christ. 



The seed of Abraham comprehends, therefore, 
not only the Israelites under Moses and Joshua, 
but above all Christ and his people as the true 
spiritual Israel who enter into that heavenly rest, 
of which the rest of the earthly Canaan was only 
an imperfect type (comp. Heb. iv. 8). 

He saith not, ' And to seeds ' as of many, but 
as of one, ' And to thy seed.' There arises a dif- 
ficulty here from the stress which Paul lays on 
the singular of the word ' seed,' inasmuch as this 
is a collective noun in Hebrew (sera) as well as in 
the Greek (sperma), and modern languages, and 
includes the whole posterity. It is singular in 
form, but plural in meaning. The plural (seraim, 
spermata) occurs in the sense of 'grains of wheat' 
or ' grains of seed ' (or crop, produce of the field, 
I Sam. viii. 15), but never in the sense of 'off- 
spring' or 'posterity.' Hence it has been said 
that Paul, after the 'manner of man' (ver. 15), 
accommodates himself merely to the prevailing 
rabbinical method of interpretation, or (as St. 
Jerome thought) to the capacity of the 'foolish 
Galatians.' Luther remarks : ' My dear brother 
Paul, this argument won't stick.' But Paul under 
stood Hebrew and Greek as well as his ancient 
and modern interpreters, and he himself uses the 
word sperma, ' offspring,' in the sense of plurality 
(Rom. iv. 18 ; ix. 7), and the plural sper?nata in 
the sense of 'various kinds of grain' (1 Cor. xv. 
38). He reads as it were between the lines of 
the text. It is not a question of grammar, but of 
spiritual meaning. The grammatical form (sperma 
and spermata) serves merely as a vehicle of his 
idea for the Greek reader. The main point is that 
the collective word seed is used instead of children 
or descendants, and that this word seed denotes 
an organic unity of true spiritual Abrahamites, 
and not all the carnal descendants of Abraham, 
as the Jews imagined (comp. vers. 28, 29 ; Rom. 
iv. 16, 18 ; ix. 8). The promise refers to Christ 
par excellence, and to all those and only those 
who are truly members of His body and united 
to Him by a living faith. If all the single de- 
scendants of Abraham as such were meant, the 



Chap. III. 15-29.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



37 



children of Hagar and Ketura, and subsequently 
Esau with his posterity would have to be included 
also ; and yet they are plainly excluded. We 
must, therefore, look to the believing posterity, 
which is comprehended in Christ as the living 
head, the same Christ, in whom as the true seed 
of Abraham, God had promised to bless all the 
nations of the earth (Gen. xxii. 18; xxvi. 4; xviii. 
14. — Which is Christ, i. e., Christ, not as a single 
individual, but as the head of the church, which 
is ' His body, the fulness of Him who filleth all 
in all ' (Eph. i. 23). In Him the whole spiritual 
race of Abraham is summed up, and in Him it 
fulfilled its mission to the whole world. He is 
the representative and embodiment of all true 
Israelites, and without Him the Jewish people 
has no meaning. The seed includes, therefore, 
all true believers who are vitally united to Christ. 
The key to the passage is in vers. 28 and 29 : 'Ye 
are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, 
then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to 
the promise.' Comp. 1 Cor. xii. 12: 'As the 
body is one and hath many members, and all the 
members of that one body, being many, are one 
body : so also is Christ.' 

Ver. 17 contains an inference from ver. 15, in 
the form of a condensed restatement of the argu- 
ment. It is impossible that the law should can- 
cel the promise which was given repeatedly at 
least four hundred and thirty years earlier to the 
patriarchs, and which looked from the beginning 
to Christ as the proper end, so that the law is 
only an intervening link between the promise and 
its fulfilment. The words unto (with a view to) 
Christ (not 'in Christ,' as in the E. V.), are, how- 
ever, omitted in the oldest MSS. and critical 
editions. — Now this I say. What I mean to 
say is this. — The law which came (so long a time 
as) four hundred and thirty years after (the 
promise). This is the exact time of the sojourn 
of the Israelites in Egypt, according to the his- 
torical statement in Exod. xii. 40. In the pro- 
phetic passage (Gen. xv. 13. and in Acts vii. 6), 
the round number four hundred is given for this 
sojourn. The Hebrew text in both passages im- 
plies that the residence in Egypt only is meant. 
If Paul followed the Hebrew text, he did not in- 
clude the patriarchal age from Abraham's im- 
migration to Canaan till Jacob's emigration to 
Egypt, which would make about two hundred 
years more (630) ; the starting-point with him 
was the close of the patriarchal age, during which 
the promise was repeatedly given to Isaac and 
Jacob as well as to Abraham (hence the plural 
'promises' in vers. 17 and 21). It is quite pos- 
sible, however, that the Apostle follows here as 
often the text of the Septuagint which differs 
from the Hebrew in Ex. xii. 40, by including the 
patriarchal period in the four hundred and thirty 
years, and thus reducing the length of the Egyptian 
sojourn nearly one half: 'The sojourning of the 
children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt [and in the 
land of Canaan\, was four hundred and thirty 
years.' The words 'and in the land of Canaan' 
are not in the Hebrew text, but are also found in 
the Samaritan Pentateuch. Josephus is incon- 
sistent, and sometimes follows the one, sometimes 
the other chronology. The Septuagint may have 
inserted the explanatory clause to adapt the text 
to the chronological records of Egypt. But this 
difference in the chronology of the Greek Bible 
and our present Hebrew text, although very seri- 
ous in a historical point of view, is of no account 



for the argument in hand. Paul means to say, the 
older an agreement the stronger is its authority. 
The Hebrew text would strengthen the argument. 

Ver. 18. If 'the inheritance,' i. e., all the tem- 
poral and spiritual blessings promised to Abra- 
ham and culminating in the Christian salvation 
(comp. the word 'inheritance,' Matth. v. 5; Acts 
xx. 32 ; 1 Cor. vi. 9 ; Gal. v. 21), proceeded from 
the law and depended on its observance, it could 
be no more the gift of promise or of free grace, 
which can be apprehended only by a living faith. 
This, however, is plainly contradicted by the case 
of Abraham, who received the inheritance by free 
grace, and not by law, which then was not yet 
given. Law and works are inseparably con- 
nected, and so are promise (or grace) and faith. 
Law and promise are used here without the article 
as representing two opposite principles. — Hath 
freely given, bestowed it as a free gift. ' The per- 
fect tense marks the permanence of the effect' 
(Lightfoot). 

Ver. 19. What then is the law? Since the 
law has properly nothing to do with the Christian 
salvation, the question arises : To what end was 
it then given at all, what is its use and import? 
The difficulty leads the Apostle to a profound 
exposition of the relation of the Mosaic to the 
Christian religion. — It was superadded because 
of the transgressions. — It was not the original 
scheme, but a subsequent adaition to the promise 
for an interimistic educational purpose to prepare 
the way for the fulfilment of the promise in Christ 
by the development of the disease of sin which is 
necessary to its cure. Comp. Rom. v. 20, ' the 
law came in beside,' etc. ' Because of,' or for the 
sake of, on account of. This is differently inter- 
preted : (1.) In order to restrain or check trans- 
gressions ; the law being a bridle to sin (a Riegel 
and Ziigel) and preventing it from gross out- 
breaks (1 Tim. i. 9, 10). The Jews were, indeed, 
more moral in their outward deportment than the 
heathen. But this did not generally predispose 
them more favorably for the gospel. And then 
Paul speaks here not of the general restrictive 
and detective significance of the law which it has 
to this day, but simply of its -propaedeutic office 
as a preparation for Christ (comp. ver. 24 ff.). 
(2.) In order to punish the transgressor, and thus 
to quicken the moral sense and the desire for 
redemption. (3.) In order to multiply the trans- 
gressions ('for the benefit of,' comp. the Gr. x°-P lv 
here used) ; the law acting as a stimulant on the 
sinful desire, and calling it out into open exercise 
(Rom. v. 20 ; vii. 5, 7, 8, 10 ; 1 Cor. xv. 56). This 
bad effect arises not from the law itself, which is 
good and holy (Rom. vii. 12, 14, 22), and which 
was one of the great blessings of Israel (Rom. ix. 
4), but from the sinful nature of man whose bad 
passions are pricked and roused by the law, so 
that- the very prohibition tempts him to trans- 
gression (vii. 13 ff. ; viii. 3). (4.) In order to 
bring sin to light, and to make it appear in its 
true character as a transgression of the divine 
law, and thus, by the knowledge of the disease, 
to prepare its cure. Comp. Rom. iv. 15 : 'Where 
no law is, there is no transgression ; ' iii. 20 : 'By 
the law is the knowledge of sin ; ' vii. 7, 8 : ' With- 
out the law sin was dead.' The choice lies be- 
tween the last two interpretations, which are, in 
fact, closely connected ; for it is by the very de- 
velopment of sin in the form of transgression that 
its true nature is understood, the sense of guilt 
awakened, and the desire for deliverance increased. 



38 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. III. 15-29. 



The disease of sin must reach the crisis before 
the restoration could take place, and so far we 
may say that God willed the development of sin 
with the view to its complete suppression by the 
future redemption. Comp. Rom. v. 20 : ' The law 
came in beside, that the trespass might abound ; 
but where sin abounded, the gift of grace did still 
more abound.' — The seed, i. e., Christ, as in v. 16, 
— Being ordained (or enacted) by angels (by the 
ministry of angels). According to Josephus and 
the Jewish tradition, the angels acted as the min- 
isters and organs of God in the promulgation of 
the Mosaic law. The angels mediated between 
God and Moses, and Moses mediated between 
the angels and the people of Israel. This view 
is based upon the Septuagint translation of Deut. 
xxxiii. 2 ('Jehovah .... shined forth from Mount 
Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints,' 
to which the Septuagint adds : ' on his right hand 
the angels with him'), and indorsed in two other 
passages of the New Testament (Acts vii. 53, 58, 
and Heb. ii. 2. It may be inferred from the gen- 
eral mode of divine revelation which is mediated 
through agencies. — Through the hand of a medi- 
ator, i. e., Moses, who received (on Mount Sinai) 
the tables of the law from God through the angels, 
and brought them down to the people. Hence 
he is often called Mediator in Rabbinical books. 
There were thus two intervening links between 
Jehovah and the people, a human mediator (Mo- 
ses), and superhuman agents of God (the angels). 
This double agency may have been mentioned 
here either for the purpose of lowering the law 
in comparison with the gospel where God spoke 
in his Son directly to men and invites them to 
commune with Him without the mediation of 
man or angel ; or for the purpose of enhancing 
the solemnity of the enactment of the law as a 
preparation for the gospel. The view we take of 
this design, depends somewhat on the interpreta- 
tion of ver. 20. 



Most of the ancient fathers falsely refer the 
passage to Christ, misled by I Tim. ii. 5. But He 
is the mediator of the gospel, not of the law. 
Comp. Heb. viii. 6; ix. 15; xii. 24. Here he 
would be coordinated with, or rather subordinated 
to, the angels and represented as a mere agent, 
which is altogether foreign to the mind of Paul. 
Some modern interpreters think of the Metatron, 
the Angel of the Covenant, who according to the 
latter Jewish theology instructed Moses in the law. 

Ver. 20. The natural translation and meaning 
of this famous cross of interpreters seems to be 
this : Now a mediator (every mediator, including 
Moses, ver. 19) l is not of one (of one party only, 
but always presupposes two or more parties ; in 
this case God and the Jewish people) ; but God is 
one (either one numerically, i. e., one party, Israel 
being the other; or one morally and emphatically, 
i. e., one only in opposition to every plurality or 
contradiction). But what is the bearing of this 
sentence upon the argument ? We have here evi- 
dently an elliptic syllogism, and must supply a 
link, either the minor proposition or the conclu- 
sion. The Apostle, as by an incidental stroke of 
lightning, suggests a collateral proof to the main 
idea of this section, namely, that the promise 
could not be made void by the law, in this sense : 
' The God who gave both the promise and the law 
is one and the same, consistent in all his dealings, 
and cannot contradict himself, therefore the law 
cannot set aside the promise.' Or the Apostle 
suggests a proof for the inferiority of the law as 
compared with the promise, in this sense : ' The 
law is a covenant between two parties and is con- 
ditioned by the obedience of the people ; but the 
promise is the free gift of God alone, and man is 
merely the recipient ; the law may be broken by 
sinful men, the promise of God is unconditional 
and irrevocable.' These are the two most natural 
interpretations. I prefer the former because it 
falls in easier with the preceding verses 15-19. 



Excursus on Chapter III. 20. 



The genius of Paul, by the wealth and depth of his ideas, has stimulated more minds and exercised 
more pens than any other writer. This verse is counted the most difficult passage in the New Testa- 
ment, and has given rise to about three hundred interpretations (254, according to Drs. Winer and 
Weigand in 182 1 ; 430, according to Dr. Jowett.) Most of them are of recent origin, and not a few are 
more obscure than the text. 2 

The sentence is simple enough grammatically ; the obscurity arises from its brevity and connection. 
The interpretations differ ( 1 ) as to the sense of ' the mediator ' — whether it means all mediators as a 
class (the generic article), or Moses, or Christ ; (2) in what is to be supplied to the genitive of one (ev6s) 
— party, thing, seed, people (the Jews only as distinct from the heathen, but God is the one God of 
both) ; (3) as to the meaning of ' God is one (eh) — numerically, or morally, referring to his monarchy, 
or sovereignty, or faithfulness and unchangeableness ' ; (4) in the logical connection with the preceding 
and succeeding verses ; (5) in the relation of the clauses to each other. 

Omitting mere arbitrary conjectures and fancies, we will give only the best interpretations. 

1. Christ is the mediator between God and men. Comp. 1 Tim. ii. 5 : ' There is one God and one 
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.' — So most of the fathers who cared little for 
the logical connection, and hence did not feel the difficulty of the passage. Some saw here even a ref- 
erence to the two natures of Christ, the human (' of one ') and the divine. 

2. Moses is the mediator between God and the Jewish people ; but God is one, the same who gave 
the promise to Abraham and the law through Moses. — So Theodoret and other fathers. Bengel and 



1 The definite article in Greek is used here idiomatically 
indefinite article. Comp. " sin " and " death," as a power, 
also the German) ; also John x. n ; 2 Cor. xii. 12 (in Greek). 

2 The latest monograph is by Dr. Gust. Ad_. Fricke, of Leipzig 
Galater. c. iii. 20, Leipzig, 18S0, 52 pages. 
Wieseler 



Das exegetische Problem im Briefe Pauli an die 
The older monographs are mentioned by Winer, De Wette, Meyer, and 



Chap. III. 15-29.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 39 

Wieseler also refer ' the mediator ' to Moses, but differ in the conclusion. Wieseler supplies the infer- 
ence : the failure of the mediatorial office of Moses between God and the people is due to the unfaith- 
fulness of fiieu who did not keep the compact. 

3. A mediator (generally) is not of one party, but of two ; God is one party, the people the other ; 
and the people are bound to observe the law. The last sentence is supplied. — So Winer, who sees 
here a parenthetical remark in favor of the authority of the law. 

4. A mediator occupies a subordinate middle position and belongs to both parties who stand over 
against each other; but God is one party for himself over and above the mediator. The law belongs 
to the same subordinate sphere as the mediator, but the promise which is given directly by God with- 
out a mediator, stands higher. The law was provisional, the promise is permanent. — So Baur, fol- 
lowed by Farrar (St. Paul, ii. 150). 

5. A mediator implies a separation of two parties, God and man, but in God, the author of the 
promise, is perfect unity. An argument for the superiority of the promise. — De Wette. 

6. Every mediator intervenes between two or more parties ; but God is a single person, not a plu- 
rality ; hence the law, which is a contract between God and Israel, cannot be opposed to the divine 
promises of the same one God acting directly. — Meyer. 

7. The idea of a mediator supposes two different parties to be united ; but inasmuch as God is 
strictly one — so that there can be no two Gods, or one God of the law and another of the promise — 
it follows that Moses as mediator did not mediate between the God of the promise and the God of 
the law and so abolish the promise by the law, but he mediated (as is well known) only between God 
and the people of Israel. — Ewald. Similarly Weiss (Bibl. Theol. d. N. T., 3d ed., p. 266). 

8. God in the promise stands and acts alone ; therefore in the promise a mediator does not apper- 
tain to God. Is then the law which involved a mediator opposed to the promises which rested on 
God alone ? God forbid. — Ellicott. 

9. The sentence is an attack upon the law and the Judaizers. A mediator, and consequently also 
the law which was given by mediators (angels and Moses), does not appertain to the promise which 
proceeds from God alone. — Holsten (in the Protestanten-Bibel, 1874). — Similarly Fricke : Moses 
and the law belong to the sphere of mediation between two parties at least ; the promises were given 
by God alone to Abraham (ver. 16) ; consequently the law and the promise do not agree, and cannot 
be reconciled except in the way pointed out, vers. 21-24. 

10. The very idea of mediation supposes a contract to which there are at least two parties. But 
where there is a contract there must be also conditions, and if these conditions are not observed the 
whole falls to the ground. The law was such a contingent contract, and as it was not kept, the bless- 
ings annexed to it were forfeited. On the other hand, the promise is absolute and unconditioned, it 
depends upon God alone. He gave it freely, and He will assuredly keep it, no matter what man may do. 
God alone is concerned in it. — This is substantially the interpretation of Schleiermacher, Usteri, Reuss, 
Lightfoot, Sanday. Reuss (in his French Commentary) thus clearly puts it : ' A mediator implies two 
contracting parties, consequently two wills, which may be united, but may also disagree ; a law there- 
fore given by mediation is conditional and imperfect ; but the promise, emanating from God alone 
and having His will for its sole source and guarantee, is infinitely more sure and more elevated. The 
law, then, cannot set aside the promise, its aim can only be secondary.' 



Ver. 21. If the law had the power to break of redemption. ' Shut up,' as in a prison and 
sin and to impart righteousness and life, it would state of complete slavery, without means of es- 
indeed be a rival of the promise and enter into cape, in striking contrast with the freedom of the 
conflict with it. But this is not the aim of the gospel. The verb implies an effective (not simply a 
law at all ; on the contrary it is intended merely to declaratory) activity of God in the development and 
bring sin to its proper crisis and thereby to pre- punishment (not in the origin) of sin, and this ac- 
pare the fulfilment of the promise. Paul infers tivity is conditioned and controlled by the eternal 
from the effect of the law its proper character counsel of redeeming love. ' All ' things, the 
and relation to the promise. most comprehensive term. In the parallel pas- 
Make alive implies that we are spiritually dead sage, Rom. xi. 32, the masculine is used, ' all' men. 
by nature. — Indeed, truly, in reality. But Paul They are viewed as one solid mass of corruption 
maintains, in opposition to the vain conceit of the and guilt. No exception is made, not even in fa- 
self-righteous Jews and Judaizing Christians, that vor of the Virgin Mary, as the Vatican dogma 
the law condemns all alike. would require. The second clause, that (in order 
Ver. 22. The Scripture, the whole Old Testa- that, with the intention that) the promise, etc., 
ment, including the law. It is here personified as in contains the solution of the problem in the first 
ver. 8, and stands for the author of the Scripture, clause. God wills sin only as something to be 
The Apostle may have had in mind a special pas- overcome and destroyed ; He permitted the fall 
sage, as Ps. cxliii. 2 (quoted above ii. 16) or Deut. of Adam only in view of the redemption by Christ 
xxvii. 26 (quoted iii. 10), or rather the general which more than made up for all the loss of the 
scheme of the Scripture as a history of the fall and fall. 

redemption. Shut up all (things) under sin. ' in Christ the tribes of Adam boast 

Comp. Rom. xi. 32 : 'God shut up all (men) in More blessings than their father lost. -(Watts.) 

unbelief (or disobedience), that He might have ' Earth has a joy unknown in heaven 

mercy upon all.' These two passages contain, as The new-born peace of sin forgiven. 

in a nutshell, the whole history of men, the mvs- Tears of such pure and deep delight, 

tery of the fall cleared up by the greater mystery Ye an S els ! never dlmmed ^2. ^Hillhone.) 



40 

Ver. 23. Before the faith came, the faith in 
Jesus Christ just mentioned (ver. 22), which un- 
der the legal dispensation existed only as a latent 
element of life. — We were shut up and kept in 
ward under the law for the faith ahout to he re- 
vealed, i. e., in order to be prepared for the free 
state of the Christian faith. The word 'faith' 
usually means the subjective state of the heart, the 
exercise of trust ; but in vers. 22 and 23 it seems 
to pass over into the objective sense, i. e., the dis- 
pensation of faith, the gospel, hence the verbs 
ca?ne and to be revealed. In ver. 24 again the 
subjective sense is meant. 

Ver. 24. So then the law has heen our tutor 
unto Christ. This sentence expresses in a few 
words the true philosophy of the law in its rela- 
tion to Christ. — ' Tutor,' literally pedagogue 
(leader of boys), one intrusted with the moral 
supervision and instruction of minors. In Greek 
and Roman families of rank the office of tutor 
was intrusted to a reliable slave who had to watch 
the children of his master in their plays, to keep 
them from excess and folly, to lead them to 
school, or instruct them himself in the elementary 
branches, and thus to train them for the freedom 
of youth and manhood. This pedagogic mission 
attaches not only to the law of Moses, but we may 
say to all laws, also to the moral law of nature 
written in the conscience of man. The discipline 
of law and authority is still the school of moral 
freedom, and reaches its proper end in self-gov- 
ernment which is true freedom. The Greek fa- 
thers called philosophy the pedagogue of the 
Gentiles, which prepared them theoretically for 
Christianity, as the Mosaic law prepared the Jews 
practically. — The ' schoolmaster ' of the E. V. 
expresses only one element in the office of the 
law. Luther's version : Zuchtmeister, is better, 
because more comprehensive. It is still wider of 
the mark and inconsistent with the imagery of the 
context to make Christ the schoolmaster ('the tu- 
tor to conduct us to the school of Christ'). On 
the contrary the whole work of preparatory train- 
ing belongs to the paedagogue, and Christ repre- 
sents here the result of the educational process, 
i. e., the state of evangelical freedom and inde- 
pendent, self-governing manhood. Comp. Eph. 
iv. 13. 

Ver. 26. For ye all are sons of God. 'All,' 
Jews and Gentiles alike (comp. vers, 27 and 28). 
'Sons' (not 'children,' E. V.), implies here the 
idea of age and freedom, as distinct from the 
state of childhood and pupilage under the train- 
ing of the paedagogue. Comp. iv. 6, 7 ; Rom. viii. 
14,15. Paul uses the term ' sons ' and 'children' 
of God mostly in opposition to slaves (Gal. iv. 7). 
John uses the term 'children' of God with refer- 
ence to their new birth (John i. 12 ; 1 John iii. 1, 
2, 10 ; v. 2) — By the faith, which is the act of a 
freeman, in Christ Jesus (the dative in Greek) i. e., 
reposing in Christ, or (if we prefer connecting the 
words with 'sons') by virtue of your life-union 
with Christ, being grounded and rooted in Him. 

Ver. 27. As many of you as were baptized into 
Christ, did put on Christ. The Greek tenses (ao- 
rists) make the two acts simultaneous ; in the act 
and at time of your baptism ye did clothe your- 
selves with Christ. 'Into' implies introduction 
into union with Christ, mystical incorporation in 
Christ; so also Rom. vi. 3 ('into Christ' ; comp. 
1 Cor. x. 2 'into Moses'), and the baptismal 
formula, Matt, xxviii. 19, 'baptizing into (not 
' in ') the name of the Father, and the Son, and 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. III. 15-29. 

the Holy Ghost.' — 'Did put on Christ,' is analo- 
gous to the phrase ' to put on the new man ' of 
righteousness and holiness, in opposition to the 
' old man ' of sin which is to be ' put away ; ' Eph. 
iv. 22, 24; Col. iii. 9, 10. The baptized is sur- 
rounded by Christ and covered with his merits, 
as the soldier is surrounded by his equipment. 
This is, however, only the beginning of the Chris- 
tian life and must be followed by daily renewal 
and progress. _Comp. Rom. xiii. 14. The figure 
of putting on Christ as a new dress gave rise 
afterwards to the custom of wearing white bap- 
tismal garments, but there is no trace that such 
a custom existed already in the Apostolic church. 

To understand this passage, we should remem- 
ber that in the Apostolic age the baptism of 
adults (such as are here addressed) presupposed 
or implied, as a rule, actual conversion and re- 
generation in consequence of preaching and in- 
struction, though there were exceptions (as the 
case of Simon Magus, who hypocritically con- 
fessed faith). If baptism of believers on personal 
profession of faith means anything, it means the 
death of the old man of sin and the birth of the 
new man of righteousness. This is its idea and 
aim, but practically it may be and often is pro- 
faned and perverted. On the part of God it is a 
sign and seal of remission of sin and of regenera- 
tion by the Holy Spirit, on the part of man an act 
of self-consecration to the service of God (comp. 
Rom. vi. 3, 4; Tit. iii. 5). From this high esti- 
mate Paul derives the strongest exhortations to 
the baptized, to walk in accordance with their 
solemn pledge, lest by their own faithlessness they 
forfeit the baptismal blessing. The greater the 
benefit, the greater the responsibility and risk. 
Here he represents the putting on of Christ as a 
finished fact (in principle), elsewhere he urges it 
upon those already baptized as a daily duty (Rom. 
xiii. 14). The former is the dogmatic, the latter 
the ethical view of the matter. Calvin remarks 
that sacraments are never meant to be empty 
signs, but include always, according to the divine 
will, the thing signified. The believer receives 
the grace offered, the unbeliever rejects it, but 
he cannot by such rejection overthrow the faith- 
fulness of God, nor deprive the sacraments of 
their true objective intent and significance. Thus 
the sun shines upon the blind as well as the see- 
ing, but although the blind man has no benefit 
from the sun, he cannot alter the nature of the 
sun, or deprive him of his force. Food is always 
nourishing and salutary in itself, though it may 
prove poison to the sick. 

Ver. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, etc., 
there is no room for, and there can be no room. 
Paul negatives, ' not the fact only, but the pos- 
sibility, as James i. 17.' The great idea of free^ 
dom, fraternity, and equality, then, is to be traced 
to Christianity, although it is often carnally mis-' 
understood and caricatured by men. Error steals 
the livery of truth, and anti-Christ the livery of 
Christ. It is to be understood here, of course, 
in a religious sense. The gospel makes all men 
equal before God, both as sinners, and as subjects 
of redeeming grace ; it has broken down the na- 
tional, social, and sexual partition walls of the an- 
cient world, and raised women and slaves to the 
true dignity and the enjoyment of the rights of 
man, not in the violent way of a sudden revolu- 
tion, but by the slow and silent, yet sure process 
of a moral transformation of society from within, 
a process still going on till its final consumma- 



Chap. IV. i-ii.J THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 4* 

tion at the second coming of Christ. — For ye final conclusion of this profound, comprehensive, 

all are one (man) in Christ Jesus, one moral per- varied, and terse reasoning, in proof of the asser- 

son in Jesus Christ the head, comp. Eph. ii. 15 tion ver. 7, that the believers are the true children 

('one new man') ; 1 Cor. xii. 12. The masculine of Abraham, and consequently heirs by promise, 

gender in the original is chosen on account of Ver. 16 must here be kept in view, where Christ 

ver. 16, and is more expressive in this connection is declared to be the seed of Abraham. Union 

than the neuter, which we find in John x. 30 ; xvii. with Christ constitutes the true spiritual descent 

II, 21. from Abraham, and secures the inheritance of all 

Ver. 29. And if ye are Christ's, then are ye the Messianic blessings by promise, as against in- 

Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise. The heritance by law. 



CHAPTER IV. 

I. Continuation : The State of Adoption contrasted with the State of Legal Slavery 
under the Law, vers, i-ii ; II. Affectionate Appeal to the Galatians by further 
calling to Remembrance their former Personal Attachment to Paul, vers. 12-20 ; 
III. Continuation of the Argument by a Biblical Allegory, vers. 21-31 

The State of Adoption contrasted with the State of Slavery under the Law. 
Chapter IV. 1-11. 

The Apostle proceeds to give a fuller exposition of the divine sonship and heirship, ch. iii. 29, and 
shows that the believers under the old dispensation, though sons and heirs in principle and prospect, 
were yet actually in a state of pupilage, and hence had no more freedom than a slave ; while now 
with the coming of Christ the time of majority has arrived. Then he gives utterance to his painful 
surprise at the relapse of the Galatians to their former state of pupilage and slavery. 

a Vers. 8, 9 ; 

i TV TOW 1 I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, 2 differ- v. i; coi.i'i. 

X^ J ° 8, 20 ; Heb. 

•i- 1 eth nothing from a servant, 3 though he be i lord of all ; . j*. IO - ,. 

° 6 Gen. xlix. 

2 But is under tutors, 5 and governors 6 until the time appointed ' l ° \ ^ r ^\ 

3 of 8 the father. Even so we, 9 when we were children, 10 ° were in js;E P h. i. 

4 bondage 11 under the elements of the world : But * when the c £^ ; ; J 3 4 . ; 

,13 £hii.'i;: 7 ' ; 

Heb. 11. 14. 

d Gen. iii. 15; 

Is. . vii. 14; 

under the law, g that we might receive the adoption of sons. 14 Matt.T.f 3 ; ; 

6 And because ye are sons, God hath 15 sent forth A the Spirit of s^ ei ' 3i; 

7 his Son into your 16 hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore' Luke il 27.' 

,, • ., , , , r , /Matt. xx. 28; 

thou art no more a servant, 17 but a son ; 'and if a son, then an chap.iii. i 3 ; 
heir of God through Christ. 18 Tit.'ii!^'; 

8 Howbeit then, 19 k when ye knew not God, *ye did service 20 unto * Peter i. 1 ^ 

9 them which by nature are no gods. 21 But now, m after that ye e J° hn V.. I2 ' 

■s J ° 'J chap. m. 26; 

have known God, or rather are known of God, 22 "how turn ye /; |^' v 5 .. 

1 But 2 that so long as the heir is an infant (minor) he * Rom.™;. 

3 slave (or bondman) 4 is 6 guardians 6 stewards a Epblu! 1 !?; 

7 the day pre-appointed 8 by 9 So we also iThess. iv. 

10 infants (minors) u were enslaved 12 came 13 born ?Rom.i.2 S ; 

14 the sonship (or adoption into sonship) 15 omit hath 16 our E P h. r ' *' ' 

17 no longer a slave (or bondman) 

18 an heir through God (omit through Christ) 19 But formerly "Y^i 
20 ye were in bondage n to those who by nature are not gods n ^™- 
22 but now having come to know God, or rather being known of God Col. ii. 



: The 



4 2 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. IV. 



10 sire again 24 to be in bondage? p Ye observe 25 days, and , ^. c 1 o] x j[" 

1 1 months, and times, 26 and years. I am afraid of you, q lest I ciia P . a. 2 
have bestowed upon you labour 27 in vain. Theklk = 

28 to which M over again 25 Or, Do ye (scrupulously) observe . . . ? 

26 seasons OT lest haply I have toiled for you. 



Ver. 1. But what I would say is this, that so 
long as the heir is an infant (a minor), he dif- 
fereth nothing from a slave, though he is lord 
of all, owner of the whole patrimony or inherit- 
ance by right and prospectively, but not in actual 
possession. In human relations the taking posses- 
sion of the inheritance is conditioned by the death 
of the parent, or at all events by a corresponding 
loss; while God gives to his children at the ap- 
pointed time all the blessings of salvation without 
losing anything, since He is the living fountain 
and preserver of all. But in both cases the ma- 
jority of the heir is presupposed. The heir in his 
nonage represents the Jewish people and the 
state of the world before Christ. 

Ver. 2. Under guardians (including the tutor 
or pedagogue) and stewards, who control the 
person and the property of the minor till he be- 
comes of age, which the Hebrew law fixed at 
thirteen years and one day, the Roman law at the 
twenty-fifth year. — Until the day pre-appointed, 
or day fixed beforehand. A legal term (one word 
in Greek, prothesmia) signifying the time allowed 
to elapse before bringing an action, the time fixed 
by the statute of limitations ( Tag der Verjtih- 
rung) ; then any pre-appointed time or day ; here 
the time when the office of the guardian termin- 
ates. — By the father. Among the Hebrews, 
Greeks, and Romans, the period of pupilage or 
nonage was fixed by law, and not dependent upon 
the arbitrary will of the parent. But this makes 
no difference in the argument, the divine will 
being the fountain of all law, and having fore- 
ordained from eternity the time of Christ's com- 
ing. Paul speaks ' theologically rather than jurid- 
ically.' It is not necessary therefore to suppose 
that he referred to the Keltic custom, which gave 
the father a more unlimited power over his chil- 
dren. 

Ver. 3. So we also, when we were minors, the 
Jewish Christians before their conversion, comp. 
iii. 23. In a wider sense the words are applicable 
to the heathen Christians also, whose former re- 
ligion was still more childish, though not divinely 
appointed as a preparatory school. — Enslaved 
under the elements (or rudiments) of the world. 
Comp. ver. 9. This is understood by the church 
fathers in a physical, by most modern interpreters 
in an ethical sense. 

(1.) The elementary substances of the external 
world or physical universe (so 2 Pet. iii. 10, 12), 
as earth, fire, and especially the heavenly bodies. 
(a) The Jewish festivals (sabbaths, new moons, 
and passovers) which were regulated by the course 
of the sun and moon, and so far by the powers of 
nature. (Chrysostom.) (b) The heathen worship 
of the stars and other material substances. (Au- 
gustine.) (c) Religion of earthly, sensuous forms 
and rites generally (both Jewish and heathen), as 
distinct from spiritual religion and rational wor- 
ship. (Neander.) Against this interpretation in 



all its forms is the omission of world after ele- 
ments in ver. 9. 

(2.) The elementary lessons, rudimentary in- 
struction, the alphabet of learning (as Hebr. v. 12 ; 
comp. Col. ii. 8, 20). So Jerome, Calvin, Olshau- 
sen, Meyer, Wieseler, Ellicott, Lightfoot. This 
is much simpler and better suited to the context. 
Paul represents here the religion before Christ, 
especially the Jewish, as an elementary religion or 
a religion of childhood, full of external rites and 
ceremonies, all of which had a certain educational 
significance, but pointed beyond themselves to an 
age of manhood in Christ. This falls in naturally 
with what he said in the preceding chapter of the 
pedagogical mission of the law. The whole Old 
Testament dispensation was an elementary or pre- 
paratory school for the gospel, a religion of types 
and shadows, of hope and promise, destined to 
lose itself in Christianity, as its substance and 
fulfilment. — Of the world, not the physical uni- 
verse (as in the first interpretation of the ' ele- 
ments '), but mankind which needed such a train- 
ing for Christianity. The expression seems to im- 
ply that Paul comprehends the heathen also, comp. 
ver. 8. But the Jews were in fact the religious 
representatives of the whole race in its motion 
tmvards Christ. 

Ver. 4. When the fulness of the time came, i. 
e., when the period appointed by the Father (ver. 
2) till the coming of Christ and the age of man- 
hood was filled up or completed. This period was 
fixed in the eternal counsel of God with refer- 
ence to the development of the race. The words 
' fulness of the time ' express, as in a nutshell, the 
whole philosophy of history before Christ, and the 
central position of the incarnation. The ancient 
history of Jews and Gentiles was a preparation 
either direct or indirect, positive or negative, divine 
or human, for the coming of Christ, and Christ is 
the turning point of history, the end of the old, and 
the beginning of a new world. Hence we begin our 
era with His birth. He himself commenced his 
preaching with the declaration, Mark i. 15 : 'The 
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.' 
The Saviour could not appear in any other coun- 
try, nor at any other time, either sooner or later, 
nor in any other nation, according to the order of 
divine government and the preordained harmony 
of history. — Sent forth his Son, who, therefore, 
must have existed before the incarnation in heav- 
enly glory with the Father. Comp. Col i. 15-19; 
John i. 1. — Born of a woman, is no allusion to the 
mystery of the supernatural conception (='ofa 
virgin ), but expresses simply the realness of the 
incarnation or Christ's true humanity. Comp. 
Job xiv. 1, 'man that is born of a woman ; ' and 
Matt. xi. 11, ' among them that are born of 
women.' Every reader knew, of course, who the 
woman was. The absence of any further allu- 
sion to Mary in the Epistles of Paul, who never 
even mentions her name, goes to show that the 



Chap. IV. i-ii.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



excessive veneration of the holy Virgin, as it ob- 
tains in the Greek and Roman churches, arose 
after the Apostolic age. We meet it first in the 
apocryphal Gospels and then among the fathers 
of the fourth or fifth centuries, when the term 
'mother of God' came into general use. — Born 
under the law (the accus. in Gr. implies the mo- 
tion or transition from the preexistent state into 
the state of human subjection to the law) is more 
specific, and defines the humanity of Christ as to 
its national and religious aspect. He was not only 
born of a woman, ;'. e., a true man, like all others, 
hut a full member of a particular nation and the 
Icwish theocracy, and hence subject to all its re- 
ligious ordinances and obligations, in order to 
redeem those who were under the legal covenant. 
A Gentile could not have saved the world from 
the curse of the law ; in Israel alone all the his- 
torical conditions were at hand ; and hence, ' sal- 
vation is of the Jews' (John iv. 22), that from 
them it might pass over in proper order to the 
whole race. 

S Ver. 5 To redeem, to buy off from the curse 
__and the slavery of the law. This he did by His 
perfect obedience and the bestowal of the spirit of 
love and freedom. — Receive, not recover, for the 
redemption by Christ infinitely transcends the 
original child-like innocence lost by Adam. — 
The sonship, through and for the sake of Jesus, 
the only begotten Son. He is the Son by na- 
ture and from eternity, we become sons by grace 
in time. The word 'sonship' or adoption as 
sons is used only by Paul, in five passages, Rom. 
viii. 15, 23 ; ix. 4 ; Eph. i. 5 ; while the term ' chil- 
dren of God ' is more frequent. The former suits 
here better, as contrasted with slavery, and in 
distinction also from a state of mere pupilage. 
Both terms, ' sons ' and ' children ' of God, and 
the corresponding ' Father ' never refer in the 
New Testament to the natural relation of man as 
the creature to God as the creator, but always to 
the moral and spiritual relation, which results 
from the new birth and the communication of the 
Holy Spirit. 

Ver. 6. God sent forth the Spirit of his Son 
into our hearts. Comp. Rom. viii. 9, 14-17. The 
gift of the Spirit seems here to succeed the act of 
adoption, while in Rom. viii. 14-16 it is made to 
precede it. But there is between both an insep- 
arable connection and mutual dependence, and 
the communication of the Spirit is not confined to 
a single act, but goes on increasing with the spirit- 
ual growth of the children of God. — ' Our ' is 
better supported than ' your.' A similar change 
of person as in the preceding verse, resulting from 
the vivacity of speech and the sympathy with the 
reader. — Crying ; praying with strong desire and 
glowing fervor. Comp. Isa. xix. 20 ; James v. 4. 
In Rom. viii. 15, we read: 'in whom we cry.' 
Here the Spirit himself appears as praying, and 
the believer as the organ. The Holy Spirit so 
deeply sinks into the spirit of believers and so 
closely identifies himself with them that He prays 
in them and through them as their advocate. 
Christ is their advocate at the right hand of God, 
the Spirit is the 'other advocate' (E. V. 'com- 
forter'), indwelling in their hearts. — Abba, 
Father. ' Abba ' is the Aramaic word for ' Father ' 
(in Hebrew Aph), so childlike in its very sound, 
and sanctioned by the beginning of the Lord's 
Prayer, as originally uttered, also by His prayer 
in Gethsemane, Mark xiv. 36. Hence Paul re- 
tains it here as in Rom. viii. 15. ' Father.' The 



43 



emphasizing combination of the familiar Hebrew 
with the corresponding Greek name was proba- 
bly a liturgical formula among Hellenistic Jews 
and Christians. (Meyer regards ' Abba,' here as 
a proper name, which became the customary ad- 
dress to God in prayer after the example set by 
our Lord. Augustine and many others see here 
more than a translation, namely an allusion to 
the unity of the God of the Jews and of the Gen- 
tiles, and the unity of the Spirit, dwelling and 
praying in both.) 

Ver. 7. So that thou art no longer a slave, hut 
a son, etc. Inference from vers. 5 and 6. The 
second person individualizes and brings it home 
to each reader. — ' Son,' in opposition to ' slave,' 
but not, of course, to the exclusion of daughter. 
For the Apostle had distinctly declared, iii. 2S, 
that the sexual, as well as other differences, disap- 
pear before Christ in the general religious equal- 
ity. He had here in view probably not the Jew- 
ish, but the Roman law, which was most familiar 
to his readers and which gave daughters and 
sons, adopted as well as native children, a title to 
the inheritance ; while the Jewish law excluded 
the daughters, except in default of male heirs 
(Num. xxvii. 1 ff. ; xxxvi. 1 ff.), but required the 
first born son to support them till they were mar- 
ried. — And if a son, then an heir through God. 
This is the most approved reading, of which the 
received text: 'of God through Christ,' is a cor- 
rect explanation, in conformity with Rom. viii. 
17. The word ' God ' is here used in the widest 
sense of the triune God, from whom we derive 
our sonship and heirship in opposition to the law 
and to carnal descent from Abraham. For the 
Father sends His only begotten Son, the Son 
delivers us from the slavery of the law and recon- 
ciles us to the Father, the Holy Spirit applies 
the sonship to our heart and bears witness to it. 

Ver. 8. Here the Apostle evidently addresses 
Gentile Christians. But some may have been 
before their conversion proselytes to Judaism. — 
But formerly (before your conversion, comp. ver. 
7 ) when ye knew not God. A description of the 
heathen state, which, compared with the knowl- 
edge of the only true and living God through rev- 
elation, was dark ignorance. Indefinite knowl- 
edge is definite ignorance. Comp. 1 Thess. iv. 
5 ; 2 Thess. i. 8 ; Eph. ii. 12. Paul admits, how- 
ever, Rom. i. 21, that the heathen have or might 
have an inferior order of knowledge from the 
light of nature (Rom. i. 21) and a moral sense 
of right and wrong (Rom. ii. 14-16), and are 
therefore without excuse. — Ye were in bondage 
to those who by nature are not gods. 1 This read- 
ing which connects the negative ('not') with 
'gods,' and not with 'nature,' is best supported. 
It means that the heathen idols are not gods, but 
something else, namely, demons or evil spirits. 
Comp. 1 Cor. x. 20 : ' the things which the Gen- 
tiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to 
God.' Accordingly the heathen divinities had a 
real existence, and idolatry was the religion of the 
devil and his army of fallen angels or evil spirits. 
Comp. also Deut. xxxii. 17 ; Ps. cvi. 37. If the 
negation is put before ' nature ' : ' to those who 
are gods not by nature,' we must supply : ' but 
only in repute ' (comp. I Cor. viii. 5 : ' though 

1 The oldest MSS. read: -rois <f>uVei jut; ovo-iv fleot; (sup- 
ply, aAAa 5ai0j.oytois), the received text : -rot? /u.77 (frvo-ei (sup- 
ply aAA.a A.6ytp, comp. i Cor. viii. 5, ei<rlv Aeyo^efoi #eot) 
ovtriv 8eoi?. In either case ^rj is a subjective negation and 
expresses the opinion of the writer. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. IV. 1-20. 

seasons (Acts xviii. 21 ; xx. 6, 16; 1 Cor. v. 7, 8). 
— ' Days,' the weekly sabbaths, and other single 
holy days and fast days. Some English commen- 
tators would exclude the weekly Sabbath, since it 
is enjoined in the Decalogue ; but this is arbitrary 
and contrary to the parallel passage, Col. ii. 16 
('sabbath days '). Paul denounces the Pharisaic 
Sabbatarianism, as Christ Himself had done by 
word and example. It was a pedantic, mechan- 
ical, slavish observance which worshipped the 
letter and killed the spirit. Even Rabbi Gama- 
liel, Paul's teacher, and one of the most liberal of 
the Pharisees, was unwilling to unload his ass 
laden with honey on a sabbath day, and let the 
poor animal die. This was considered a proof of 
great piety. But it is a serious error to infer from 
this passage (and Col. ii. 16 ; Rom. xiv. 5) that 
the Sabbath is abolished in the Christian dispen- 
sation. The law of the Sabbath, i. e., of one 
weekly day of holy rest in God (the seventh in 
the Jewish, the first in the Christian Church) is 
as old as the creation, it is founded in the moral 
and physical constitution of man, it was instituted 
in Paradise, incorporated in the Decalogue on 
Mount Sinai, put on a new foundation by the res- 
urrection of Christ, and is an absolute necessity 
for public worship and the welfare of man. 'The 
Sabbath is made for man,' that is, instituted by 
God for man's spiritual and temporal benefit. So 
marriage is made for man, government is made 
for man. But the Judaizers reversed the order 
and made the Sabbath an end instead of a means, 
and a burden instead of a blessing. — ' Months,' 
the new moons (comp. Col. ii. 16), which were 
kept as joyful festivals by the Jews (Num. xxviii. 
11-15), especially those of the seventh month, 
which had the same sacredness among the months 
of the year as the sabbath among the days of the 
week. — 'Seasons,' the festival seasons, which 
lasted several days, as the Passover, Pentecost, 
and the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. xxiii. 4). — 
'Years,' sabbatical (i. e., every seventh) and jubi- 
lee (every fiftieth) years (Lev. xxv. 2-17). This 
does not necessarily imply that the Galatians were 
then actually celebrating a sabbatical year ac- 
cording to the Mosaic ritual ; the plural speaks 
against such a supposition. But this point be- 
longed to their theory, which consistently must 
have led them to a corresponding practice as soon 
as the occasion presented itself. 

Ver. 11. I am apprehensive of you, lest haply I 
have toiled for you in vain. This verse is, as it 
were, bathed in tears, and betrays the deep and 
painful solicitude of a faithful pastor for his stray 
sheep, or a tender father for his erring children. 
It leads to the affectionate appeal, ver. 12 ff. 



44 

there be that are called gods '). In this case the 
Apostle would deny the existence of the heathen 
gods altogether and hold them to be mere creat- 
ures of fancy (or personifications of the powers of 
nature). 

Ver. 9. But now having come to know (or, to 
discern, to recognize) God, or rather being known 
of God, recognized and adopted as His own, as 
His children ; comp. I Cor. viii. 2. Formerly 
the Galatians were left to themselves and, as it 
were, ignored by God. Then their knowledge of 
God was not their own merit, but a free gift of 
God, who condescended to dwell in them and to 
enlighten their minds and hearts. Man's knowl- 
edge of God is very imperfect and has no value 
except as far as it flows from God's perfect knowl- 
edge and recognition of man. — How is it that ye 
are turning back again to the weak and beggarly 
elements. The term ' elements,' or ' rudiments ' 
embraces here both the heathen and the Jewish 
religion. Even Judaism is merely a poor element- 
ary school and a system of slavery, as compared 
with the riches and freedom of the gospel. If 
we deprive Judaism of its Messianic features and 
divest the ritual law of its typical reference to 
Christ, it sinks virtually to the same level with the 
false religions. The relapse of the Galatians to 
such an unspiritual Judaism was therefore at the 
same time a relapse to their original heathenism. 
Hence the words ' again ' and ' once more.' 

Ver. 10. Do ye (scrupulously) observe days, and 
months, and seasons, and years % The interroga- 
tive form gives more vicacity to the passage and 
more weight to ver. 11. If it is not a question, it 
must be taken as an exclamation of painful sur- 
prise : ' Is it possible that you should observe ! ' 
The Apostle means a Judaistic, slavish, and su- 
perstitious observance which ascribes an intrin- 
sic holiness to particular days and seasons (as if 
the other days and seasons were in themselves 
profane), and which makes such observance a 
necessary condition of justification (as if faith in 
Christ were not sufficient for justification). Such 
observance virtually derives salvation in some 
sense from the elements of nature, like the sun 
and the moon, which regulate the festival sea- 
sons. The polemic of Paul is equally applicable 
to a Judaizing, that is, slavish, superstitious, and 
self-righteous observance of Sunday or any other 
Christian festival. But there is also a free, evan- 
gelical, and spiritual observance of holy days and 
seasons, which is essential to proper order in so- 
cial worship, and which the Apostle was far from 
condemning, since he himself distinguished in 
some way ' the first day ' of the week in commem- 
oration of the resurrection (Acts xx. 7 ; 1 Cor. 
xvi. 2), and also the Passover and Pentecostal 



2. Affectionate Appeal to the Galatians. 
Chapter IV. 12-20. 



Paul interrupts his argument for a moment by an affectionate appeal to the feelings of the Gala- 
tians. He reminds them of their former enthusiastic love and veneration for him, and seeks thus to 
regain their confidence. He wishes to force a passage through their heart to their conviction. To 
work upon the feelings is perfectly legitimate, and one of the most fruitful agencies of persuasion and 
conversion, but it must always be made subservient to the interests of truth. 



Chap. IV. 12-20.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 45 

12 "F)RETHREN, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye 

13 JD are: 1 °ye have not injured me at all. 2 Ye 3 know how* 2 Cor - "• 5 - 
6 through infirmity i of the flesh I preached the gospel unto^ cot."^ 3 ; 

14 you c at the first. 5 And my temptation 6 which was 7 in my c ch a p?i.6. 9 " 
flesh ye despised not, nor rejected ; 8 but 9 received me d as an^sam-xix. 

1 5 angel of God, e even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the bless- 



Zech. 
Mai. 



edness ye spake of? 10 for I bear you record, 11 that, if it had e J^*^.' 
been 12 possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, 13 J° h °j^ 

16 and have 14 given them to me. Am I therefore become your en- "■ x 3- 

17 emy, f because I tell 18 you the truth ? They g zealously affect is/chap. ii. s , 
you, but not well ; yea, they would 17 exclude you, that ye might ^fc™;* ; 2 2 ; . 

18 affect 16 them. But it is good to be zealously affected 18 always 
in a good tiring}* and not only when I am present with you. 

19 A My little children, of whom I travail in birth again 20 until h phiLm"^ 

20 Christ be formed in you, I desire 21 to be present with you now, 
and to change my voice ; for I stand in doubt of you. 22 

1 Become as I, for I also became as you, brethren, I beseech you. 

2 Ye did me no injury ; 3 ; but ye 
4 that on account of an infirmity 5 the former time 

6 your trial 7 omit which was 8 ye did not scorn nor loathe 

9 ye 10 your self-congratulation n witness 

12 omit, it had been 18 your eyes 14 omit have 

15 enemy by telling 16 court 17 desire to 

18 courted 19 cause 20 I am again in travail 

21 but I could wish 22 I am perplexed about you 

Ver. 12. Become as I (am), for I also (became) Ver. 13. But ye know that on account of an 
as you (are). Paul asks the Galatians to imitate infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto 
his example, that is, to cast off their Judaizing you the former time. 'On account of or 'be- 
tendency and to become simple, decided, and con- cause of ' is the only correct translation of the 
sistent Christians, as he had done himself when he Greek text, 1 not ' through ' (as in .the E. V.), nor 
cast off his former Judaism, and when he placed 'in,' nor 'amid.' The infirmity, whatever it was, 
himself on a level with them in their heathen state is here represented as the occasion of Paul's 
in order to win them to Christ. I abandoned all preaching (not as the condition during his preach- 
for you ; do the same for me. Comp. ii. 14 ; I ing). It seems that he intended first merely to 
Cor. ix. 20, 21. Others take the words to be an pass through Galatia, on his second large mis- 
exhortation to love him as he loved them, or to sionary tour, but was detained there by some un- 
enter as fully into his heart and sympathy, as he defined bodily infirmity or sickness, and thus in- 
had by love identified himself with them. But duced to preach the gospel. This would place the 
this does not fall in with the connection, and Paul love of the Galatians to him in a still stronger 
makes no complaint of a want of love to him. — light, since he had no claim upon it, and became 
Brethren, I beseech you, belongs to the preceding their benefactor, so to speak, only by accident, 
admonition, adding to it the force of a painfully Conybeare well expresses the sense by translating, 
agitated, affectionate, and loving heart. — You did somewhat too freely: 'On the contrary, although 
me no injury. I have no personal ground of it was sickness (as you know) which caused me 
complaint. This explanation agrees best with to preach the glad-tidings to you at my first visit, 
what follows. Paul reminds the readers of the yet you neither scorned nor loathed the bodily 
happy relation which existed between them at infirmity which was my [your] trial.' In the ab- 
his first visit, where they showed him the most sence of further information, the exact character 
tender affection and were ready for any sacrifice, of this infirmity of the flesh cannot be determined, 
— Other explanations: (i.) My severe language except that it was a painful, recurrent, and repul- 
(ver. 11) proceeds from no provocation of yours, sive physical malady, no doubt the same wh'fh he 
(2.) You have not offended me by your apostasy, calls a 'thorn in the flesh,' 2 Cor. xii. 7 This in- 
but God and Christ. (3.) You have not injured firmity was a check upon spiritual pride and kept 
me, but yourselves. (4.) I will forgive and for- 



get all the past injury, if you now return. ( 5.) . * Atti with the . accusative, not with the genitive. Some- 
You never disobeyed me before, do not disobey *™|| ^^^oo^sic^s " o^ ln%o^lf, 



me now. 



rarely. 



4 6 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. IV. 12-20. 

politely and delicately in the form of a question 
instead of direct assertion. Others translate • 
'Therefore (because ye loved me so much) I have 
become (in the opinion of the Judaizing teachers) 
your enemy — by telling you the truth.' In the 
Judaizing pseudo - Clementine writings Paul is 
called an ' enemy,' and ' lawless ' or ' antinomian.' 
Some substitute 'hateful to you' for 'your en- 
emy' (taking the Greek word in the passive sense, 
as Rom. v. 10 ; xi. 18). ' By telling you the truth,' 
refers to the second visit of Paul (Acts xviii. 23), 
when the Judaizers had probably already done 
much mischief. 

Ver. 17. Warning against the errorists on ac- 
count of their selfish exclusiveness and party 
spirit. They court you, the Judaizers (i. 7 ; v. 10) 
pay you every attention and are very busy to 
win you over to their party and their creed, but 
not well, in no good, honest way, not from unself- 
ish love to you ; nay, they desire to exclude you, 
or to shut you out from me and virtually from 
Christ Himself, by insisting on ceremonial ob- 
servances as necessary to salvation ; that ye may 
court them, they wish selfishly to monopolize your 
esteem and affection. Zeal is no test of sound 
doctrine, but sound doctrine must prove the zeal. 
Zeal without knowledge is like a sword in the 
hands of a madman. 

Ver. 18. It is good to he zealously courted in a 
good cause at all times, and not only when I am 
present with you. I do not object to kind atten- 
tions and zealous devotion, provided it be from 
pure motives and in an honorable cause ; I my- 
self received your warmest affection during my 
personal presence ; I only wish you would not 
grow cold and indifferent .during my absence. 
This interpretation suits the tender appeal which 
follows. 

Vers. 19 and 20. Affectionate appeal to the 
feelings of the Galatians. Ver. 19 may be con- 
nected with ver. 18, and a comma put after ' you,' 
or with ver. 20 (in which case it is difficult to ex- 
plain the particle Se in ver. 20), or may be taken 
as an independent sentence, an exclamation. The 
sense is the same. — My little children, of whom I 
am again in travail, as a mother in child-birth. 
The diminutive ' little ' (frequently used by John, 
but only here by Paul) expresses more forcibly 
the tenderness of Paul and the feebleness of the 
Galatians. Usually he represents his relation to 
his converts as that of a spiritual father, 1 Cor. 
iv. 15 ; 1 Thess. ii. 11 ; Phil. ii. 22 ; Philem. ver. 
10. ' Again ' is used with reference to the apos- 
tasy of the Galatians so that they need a second 
regeneration, or conversion rather from the Juda- 
izing pseudo-gospel to the genuine Pauline gospel, 
as distinct from their first conversion from hea- 
thenism to Christianity. The language is figura- 
tive and must not be pressed for dogmatic pur- 
poses. Strictly speaking, there can be but one 
regeneration or spiritual birth, which is the act of 
God, as there can be but one natural birth. But 
conversion, which is the act of man in turning 
from sin to God, may be repeated ; hence the 
frequent exhortations in the Bible. — Until Christ 
be formed in you, as the embryo is developed into 
the full-grown child. We expect for ' Christ,' 
the 'new man ; ' but Christ in us is the new man, 
who lives and moves in us as an indwelling and 
all-controlling power and principle ; comp. ii. 20 
(and note there); Eph. iii. 17; iv. 13. Regen- 
eration is a transplanting of Christ's life in us, a ' 
repetition, as it were, of the incarnation. 



Paul near the cross. God overruled the obstacle 
for the furtherance of the gospel (as He did after- 
wards his bonds, Phil. i. 12), and manifested the 
strength of His supernatural grace in and through 
the weakness of nature, comp. 2 Cor. xii. 9 : (My) 
strength is made perfect in weakness. See Ex- 
cursus below. — 'The former time,' on the first 
of my two visits. Paul had been twice in Gala- 
tia before writing this Epistle, comp. Acts xvi. 6 ; 
xviii. 23. At his second visit (Acts xviii. 23) the 
pleasant relation was already disturbed by the 
intermeddling of the Judaizing teachers, as in- 
timated in ver. 16. 

Ver. 14. And your trial in my flesh ye did not 
scorn, nor loathe (lit. 'spit out,' comp. Rev. iii. 
16). 'Your trial' is better supported than 'my 
trial.' The infirmity of Paul tried the patience 
and love of the Galatians and tempted them to 
scorn and reject both him and the gospel which 
he preached. For the natural man is always dis- 
posed to judge from outward appearance. — But 
ye received me as an angel of God, (even) as Christ 
Jesus, who is much superior to any angel. The 
Galatians acted according to Matt. x. 40 : ' He 
that receiveth you, receiveth Me, and he that re- 
ceiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me.' 

Ver. 1 5. Where J is now your self-congratula- 
tion (or, your felicitation of yourselves) I What 
has become of the boasting of your blessedness, 
of your rejoicing in my teaching, since you turned 
away from the freedom of the gospel to the sla- 
very of the law ? Have you the same reason now 
to congratulate yourselves and enjoy that beati- 
tude, which you felt at the time of your first love, 
when you were ready to make the greatest sacri- 
fices for me in return for the benefit of the gos- 
pel ? The Apostle asks this question with pain- 
ful affection to make the readers feel ashamed. 
Other explanations : (1.) What 2 then [was] your 
self-congratulation! i. e., How hollow and un- 
meaning was your boast of happiness in view of 
your speedy apostasy ! (2.) Why, then, did you 
think yourselves so happy 1 Answer : On ac- 
count of the free grace of the gospel. (3.) How 
great was your happiness! (Ungrammatical on 
account of the particle and the meaning of the 
noun.) — You would have plucked out your eyes 
and given (them) to me, (Literally, without the 
&u, Having plucked out your eyes you gave (them) 
to me. The Greek more vividly indicates the cer- 
tainty of the deed if it had been possible and prof^_ 
itable to Paul.) You were ready to make thel 
greatest sacrifice to relieve my sufferings. The 
eyes are universally regarded as the most precious 
member of the body. Comp. Ps. xvii. 8 : 'Keep 
me as the apple of the eye ; ' Deut. xxxii. 10 ; 
Prov. vii. 2. Hence the expression, ' dear as the 
apple of the eye.' The emphasis lies on ' eyes,' 
not on ' your ' (' your own ' is an interpolation of 
the E. V.). No inference can be drawn from this 
passage that Paul's infirmity consisted in dis- 
ease of the eyes (acute ophthalmia), as if to say : 
' Ye would have replaced my diseased eyes with 
your healthy eyes, if it had been possible.' Such 
a sacrifice would have been morally impossible, 
because barbarous, absurd, and useless, and not 
permissible by Paul. 

Ver. 16. So then have I become your enemy by 
telling you the truth ? He puts the conclusion 

1 riov, according to the reading of the oldest and best 
MSS. 

2 According to the received text which reads ri's for iroC, 
and inserts %v after olv. 



Chap. IV. 13-15.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 47 

Ver. 20. But (or, yea) I could wish to be pres- (comp. 2 Cor. ii. 5 ff.). But the former interpre- 

ent with you now, and to change my voice, to tation better suits the following clause. His wish 

adapt my speech more fully to your present con- to visit the Galatians again, was never gratified as 

dition and wants, to use severity or gentle persua- far as we know. — For I am perplexed about you. I 

sion as maybe best (comp. 1 Cor, iv. 21). Others : am at a loss how to address you, I know not what 

to change my present tone from severity to gentle- to think of you, I cannot understand your conduct, 

ness, to mitigate the effect of my written rebuke He fears the worst, yet hopes for the best. 



Paul's Thorn in the Flesh. 
Excurstts on Chap. IV. 13-15. Comp. 2 Cor. xii. 7-9. 1 

Paul did his great work in constant struggle against trials and difficulties from without and from 
within. His life was a continuous battle with Jews, Gentiles, and false brethren. He stood almost 
alone, one against a world in arms. Not even a wife, or a son, or a daughter cheered him on his way, 
or shared with him his troubles and cares. But he had Christ on his side, who is mightier than the 
host of hell. This warlike aspect gives to his work the character of a heroic poem. 

Among the difficulties which Paul had to contend with was that mysterious ' infirmity of the flesh,' 
to which he alludes in the fourth chapter of the Galatians, and the ' thorn in the flesh,' of which he 
speaks in the twelfth chapter of the Second Corinthians. These Epistles were written in the same 
period of his life (a. D. 54 to 57), and the passages refer no doubt to the same trouble. We will place 
them beside each other. 

Gal. iv. 13-15. 2 Cor. xii. 7-9. 

' Ye know that on account of an infirmity of the ' And that I might not be exalted too much by 

flesh I preached unto you the former time [on the this superabundance of revelations, there was 

first of my two visits among you] ; and your trial given to me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan 

in my flesh [that which was a trial to you in my to buffet me, that 1 should not be exalted too 

flesh] ye did not scorn, nor loathe [lit. spit out], much. For this thrice did I entreat the Lord that 

but as an angel of God did ye receive me, [even] it might depart from me. But he hath said unto 

as Jesus Christ. Where is then your self-congrat- me: " My grace is sufficient for thee ; for my 

ulation ? for I bear you witness that you would strength is being perfected in weakness." Most 

have plucked out your eyes, if possible, and given gladly then will I rather glory in my weaknesses, 

them to me.' that the strength of Christ may rest upon me.' 

The first attack of which we are informed took place fourteen years before the composition of the 
Second Corinthians (57), that is, A. D. 43 or 44, probably after that trance in the Temple of Jerusalem 
which determined his career as the Apostle of the Gentiles, 2 Cor. xii. 2 ; comp. Acts xxii. 17. Then 
again he was seized by a prolonged attack in 51 or 52, during his first visit to Galatia, Gal. iv. 13. 
He seems to refer to a similar attack, when in 52 or 53 he wrote to the Thessalonians ( I Thess. ii. 
18) that ' Satan had hindered him ' from visiting them, and when a few years afterwards (57) he re- 
minded the Corinthians that he was with them ' in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling ' ( 1 Cor. 
ii. 3). In the second Epistle he informs them of an affliction which befell him in Asia and which was 
so severe that he ' despaired even of life ' (2 Cor. i. 8, 9). If we press the words ' thrice I prayed the 
Lord,' we may infer that down to the year 57 he had at least three severe attacks of this peculiar in- 
firmity, and that it was after the third that the Lord pointed out to him the practical design of the 
trial and assured him of grace sufficient to bear it. 

Allusions to the same trouble, but less certain, have been found in other passages where Paul 
speaks more generally of his sufferings in the cause of Christ, and more particularly his persecutions, 
namely, Gal. vi. 17 (the sacred stigmata or marks of Jesus branded on his body) ; 2 Cor. iv. 10 ('always 
bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our 
body') ; Col. i. 24 (' I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part the deficiencies 
of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body, which is the church '). 

The contemporaries of St. Paul who were personally acquainted with him knew at once what he 
meant by his ' infirmity ' and by his ' thorn in the flesh ; ' but we who live at such a distance are 
largely left to conjecture as to its precise nature. The apocryphal literature is silent on this point. 
The ' Acts of Thecla ' give us a description of the personal appearance of Paul, but no account of 
his special infirmity. The magnifying glass of the legend enhances only the virtues of its heroes, 
while the defects disappear or are remembered only indistinctly. There is, however, a vague tradi- 
tion, first briefly mentioned by Tertullian, that Paul suffered from severe headache. 

What we can gather with some degree of certainty from his Epistles are the following particu- 
lars : — 

I. The infirmity of Paul was a bodily ailment or physical malady. It was an ' infirmity of the flesh? 

1 Comp. Dean Stanley, Com. on Corinth, (2 Cor. xii.), pp. 547-552 (4th ed. 1876). Bp. Lightfoot, Com. on Gal. , Excursus, 
pp. 183-188. Thomas Lewin, Life and Epistles of St. Paul, ( 1S7S) i. 186-189. Canon Farrar, Life and Work of St. 
Paul, i. 652-661. J. J. Lias, Com. on Second Corinth., xii. 7. (' Cambridge Bible,' 1879). Dr. Plumptre, Com. on 
Second Corinth., xii. 7 (in Ellieott : s N. T. Com.). 

Among older commentators, Poole, Calov, and Wolf have collected the various interpretations. Meyer gives only a 
brief summary on 2 Cor. xii., pp. 337, 338 (fifth Germ, ed., 1870). 



48 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. IV. 13-15. 

Gal. iv. 13, or ' in his (my) flesh? ver. 14, 'a thorn in the flesh, 1 2 Cor. xii. 7, that is, not a literal thorn, 
but a physical pain, as sharp as that caused by a thorn or pin thrust in the flesh. 1 It is true, ' flesh ' 
often means, in Paul's vocabulary, the corrupt carnal nature of man, but in these passages it must re- 
fer to the body ; for a check on the sinful nature would be a spiritual blessing rather than a hindrance 
to get rid of. 

2. It must have been very painful. This is implied in the Greek word <tk6Ko^i, which only occurs 
once in the New Testament, but frequently elsewhere, and means either a wooden ' stake,' or a sharp 
' thorn,' a splinter ; the latter meaning prevails in Hellenistic Greek (LXX. Hos. ii. 6 ; Ezek. xxviii. 
24 ; Num. xxxiii. 55 ; Sir. xliii. 19), and is decidedly preferable here, for the idea of a stake driven 
through the flesh is exaggerated and coarse.* The Apostle moreover prayed again and again to be 
delivered from this pain. A man of his energy and zeal would not have minded or mentioned an 
ordinary ailment. 

3. It was of a repulsive and even loathsome character, and offered a strong temptation to the Gala- 
tians to ' despise ' and ' spit out' the Apostle. But it created also pity and Compassion on the suf- 
ferer. 

4. It was not a continuous, but an intermittent trouble. It seized him while passing through Ga- 
latia and detained him there, so that he involuntarily became the evangelist and spiritual father of the 
Galatians, Gal. iv. 13 (according to the correct rendering of 5<' aoSeveiav ttjs crapes, ' on account of 
an infirmity of the flesh '). The intermittent character is also implied in the word ' buffet.' 

5. It was not hereditary, but dated, it would seem, from the time of his conversion or afterwards ; 
as Jacob's lameness came from his wrestling with Jehovah. He says : ' There was given to me (iS60ri) 
a thorn in the flesh.' And it was given to him by God through Satan for his humiliation. It is pos- 
sible, however, that the disease dated from the earlier life of Paul, and was aggravated and also gra- 
ciously overruled after his conversion. 

6. It had a mysterious background, and was connected with demoniac influences ; for he describes 
the trouble as an 'angel of Satan,' 3 who did ' buffet' him or strike him with the fist. But Satan was 
here, as in the case of Job, only an instrument in the hands of the permissive and overruling provi- 
dence of God, and had to serve against his will the moral end of guarding the Apostle against spirit- 
ual pride. 

7. It was apt to break out after some special revelation or exaltation with which Paul was favored from 
time to time. For he mentions it after the account of his rapture into the third heaven where he heard 
' unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter,' and he represents the thorn in the flesh 
as a counter-action to the inflation and boastfulness which such exceptional insight into the mysteries 
of divine truth might otherwise have produced. Sudden transitions from a taste of heavenly glory to 
earthly misery are not infrequent in the lives of saints. The disciples had to come down from the 
Mount of Transfiguration to be confronted with hideous maladies, — a contrast so admirably repro- 
duced by Raphael in his last and greatest picture. Peter after he had, by revelation, confessed Christ 
as the Son of God, and earned the name of ' Rock,' was rebuked and called ' Satan,' because, under 
the influence of his flesh and blood, if not of Satan himself, he had, presumed to warn his Lord and 
Master against the path of suffering which alone could lead to the redemption of the world. 

So far exegesis may go with the data before us. Some of the ablest commentators stop here, and 
say that Paul's infirmity was a painful physical malady which he derived frdm Satan, but which can- 
not now be definitely determined. 4 ' 

But it is very interesting to examine the various theories and conjectures. Some are fanciful, some 
probable, none certain. They reflect the various personal experiences and trials of Christian men. 
We may classify them under three heads : physical evils ; external calamities ; spiritual trials. 

I. PHYSICAL MALADIES. 

Almost every ailment or disorder to which human flesh is subject has been named by commenta- 
tors as the thorn in the flesh, such as headache, earache, blindness, or sore eyes, dyspepsia, gravel, 
epilepsy, hypochondria, impediment of speech, diminutive figure, nervous prostration, a general sickly 
condition (rather than a particular disease), but those only deserve special consideration which com- 
bine more or less the characteristic features which are required by the text. These are ophthalmia, 
epilepsy, and sick headache. 

1. Inflammation of the eyes, or acute ophthalmia? This disease is still very prevalent in the Orient, 
especially in Egypt, among children and adults, and often presents an aspect almost as distressing as 
leprosy and epilepsy. In every street of Alexandria and Cairo, you may see children suffering with 
eyes inflamed and besieged by flies, on the arms or shoulders of the mother, who from superstitious 
fear of evil spirits makes no attempt to drive the flies away. The Egyptian ophthalmia, so called, is 
contagious and accompanied by severe burning pain, headache, and prostration. ' When the disease 
is unchecked, it is liable to produce ulceration or sloughing of the cornea, with the escape of the 
aqueous humor and protrusion of the iris ; and even when these results do not follow, vision is often 
destroyed by permanent opacity of the cornea.' 

1 The dative rfj <rapxC, 2 Cor. xii. 7, is the dative of appropriation, 'a thorn for the flesh.' So Meyer in toe, but he mis- 
understands crap£ of that part of the spiritual man which is most inclined to sin. This is inconsistent with the 'infirmity 
of the flesh ' in Gal., and Paul would not have prayed for a removal of a check on his sinful inclination. 

2 Against Lightfoot, Plumptre, and Farrar, who all prefer the meaning ' stake,' misled by the prevailing classical usage 
The Vulgate translates cncoAoi// by stimulus. 

s 'AyyeAos 1a.-ra.va. is in apposition to anoXo^i. Satan has under him a host of fallen angels, Matt. xxv. 41, and uses them 
as agents for all sorts of evil and mischief of which he is the prime author, comp. 1 Cor. ii. 12 ; 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; xi. 14 ; 1 Thess. 
ii. 18, etc., and also Job ii. 2 ff. 

4 So Olshausen, De Wetle, Meyer, Neander, Stanley, and others- 

So very positively Lewin, Plumpue, Farrar, and other English and American writers. It is strange that Meyer in 
his summary of views does not even mention the theory of ophthalmia. 



Chap. IV. 13-15.] THE -EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 49 

In favor of this theory the following arguments have been urged, none of which, however, is con- 
clusive : — 

(a.) Paul was struck with blindness by the dazzling light of glory which appeared to him at his 
conversion. But this blindness lasted only three days, and was — as it would seem, permanently — 
cured by Ananias, Acts ix. 8, 9, 17, 18. 

(b.) The Galatians in the first flush of their gratitude for Paul, who, notwithstanding his severe 
affliction, preached to them the good tidings of salvation, were willing, if possible, to pluck out even 
their eyes 1 and to give them to the suffering messenger of God, Gal. iv. 15. But the eyes, the most 
precious members of the body, represent here figuratively the greatest sacrifice. 

(c.) Paul did not recognize the high-priest, when he called him a 'whited wall,' Acts xxiii. 3-5. 
But this may have been owing to nearsightedness, rather than to diseased vision. 

(</.) His handwriting was awkward, Gal. vi. 11 (' See what large letters, or characters, I write with 
mine own hand '), and he usually employed an amanuensis, Rom. xvi. 22. But the former passage 
refers only to the large size of the letters, which is often characteristic of boldness ; and even bad and 
illegible handwriting is not infrequent among men of genius with sound eyes. 2 

(e. ) The term 'thorn in the flesh' naturally suggests the image of a sharp splinter run into the eye, 
and an ocular deformity caused thereby, which might well be compared to the brand fixed on a slave, 
Gal. vi. 17. But this passage refers to permanent marks of persecution from without rather than an 
inherent trouble. 

If Paul suffered from blindness, or blurred vision, he would involuntarily remind us of the two 
greatest epic poets, — Homer and Milton, — of the eminent divine Dionysius of Alexandria, and of 
the historian Prescott. His vision of the outward world was dimmed that he might see the mysteries 
of the spiritual and eternal world. Milton wrote his ' Paradise Lost ' and ' Paradise Regained ' in 
midnight darkness, yet full of faith and hope : — 

6 These eyes, 
Bereft of li^ht, their seeing have forgot; 
Nor to their idle orbs doth sight appear 
Of sun, or moon, or star, throughout the year, 
Or man, or woman. Yet I argue not 
Against Heaven's hand and will, nor bate a jot 
Of heart or hope, but still bear up, and steer 
Right onward.' 

2. Epilepsy, or the falling sickness? This answers nearly every condition of the text. It is painful ; 
it is recurrent; it suspends all voluntary action ; it is exceedingly humiliating, distressing, and repul- 
sive, and makes the sufferer an object of loathing to others. It is often connected with delicate sen- 
sibility, nervous excitement, visions, and trances. It is characterized by sudden insensibility, spasmodic 
movements of the muscles, violent distortions of the face, protrusion of the tongue, foaming at the 
mouth, and ghastly expression of countenance. The fits last usually from five to twenty minutes 
and are followed by a state of stupor. Epilepsy was considered by the ancients as a supernatural and 
' sacred disease,' and derived from the influence of the gods or evil spirits ; the Jews traced it to de- 
moniacal possession ; the Welsh call it ' the rod of Christ.' Mohammed often had trances and epileptic 
fits, during which he foamed at the mouth, and uttered guttural sounds like a camel ; at first he and 
his followers derived them from evil spirits, but afterwards from the angel Gabriel who inspired his 
messages. The faintings and ecstasies of St. Bernard, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Catherine of Siena, 
St. Teresa of Spain, George Fox, and Emanuel Swedenborg may also be mentioned as illustrations or 
analogies. Recent English commentators have called attention to the case of King Alfred, the great- 
est and best of English kings. It is said that God sent him in his youth a malady which had all the 
symptoms of epilepsy, in answer to the prayer for some corporal suffering or other protection against 
the temptations of the flesh. For many years it caused him terrible tortures and led him to despair 
of his life, but then it left him, in answer to his fervent prayers for deliverance, until it suddenly re- 
appeared in the midst of his marriage festival, to the dismay of the guests, and rudely silenced their 
loud jov. To a good old age he was never sure against its recurrence, and it was under the load of 
this bodily infirmity that he discharged, most energetically and faithfully, the duties of a sovereign in 
a most trying time.* I knew an eminent and celebrated Christian scholar of high moral and religious 
character, who in his younger years was subject to this terrible disease ; but his friends concealed it. 

The only serious objection to this theory is the repulsive character of epilepsy. But Paul himself 
describes his infirmity as loathsome. It is also urged that he must have had a powerful constitution, 
to make so many journeys by land and by sea, to preach in the day and to work at his trade in the 
night, and to endure all sorts of hardship and persecution. But physical infirmity is sometimes com- 
bined with great nervous vitality and tenacity. 

3. Sick headache. This has in its favor the oldest tradition. It is first mentioned by Tertullian, 
who adds to it earache, 5 and is confirmed by Jerome, who mentions the traditional report that Paul 
often suffered the most severe headache. 6 I would unhesitatingly adopt this view if it were not for 
the objection that headache, even in its severest form, does not present the feature of such repulsive- 
ness as to make the sufferer an object of contempt. As the argument now stands, the second theory 
has, exegetically, the advantage above all others. 

1 Not ' your own eyes,' as King James' version has it. The Greek vfia* is not emphatic, and the stress lays on eyes,' 
not on 'your.' 

2 I may mention, as instances, Napoleon, Neander, Dean Stleany. 

3 Ziegler, Ewz\d Vfalkude Suclit oder so was aluilic/ies'), Hausrath, Holsten, and especially Lightfoot. 

4 Pauli's Life of Alfred, Engl, transl., pp. 122-125, quoted by Jowett and Lightfoot. 

5 De Pudic, c. 13 : 'per dolorem, ut aiitnt, auricula vel capitis.'' 

Com. in Gal. iv. 14 : ' Tradunt eum gravissimum capitis dolorem sape perpessum.' Chrysostom, Theophylact, 
Pelagius, and CEcumenius likewise mention this opinion as held by some (we's). 



50 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. IV. 13-15. 

II. EXTERNAL TROUBLES. 

These are ruled out by the text which points to an inherent difficulty inseparable from his person, 
although it was not always felt with the same force. 

1. Persecutions. 1 Chrysostom argues, quite inconclusively : ' It cannot have been a headache as 
some suppose ; it cannot have been any physical malady. God would not have delivered over the 
body of His chosen servant to the power of the devil to be tortured in this way. The Apostle is surely 
speaking of opposition encountered, of suffering endured from enemies.' Paul speaks of his perse- 
cutions differently and very plainly in other passages, 2 Cor. iv. 7 ff. ; xi. 25 ff. Moreover persecu- 
t\on followed the. preaching of the gospel, while the infirmity spoken of in the Galatians preceded the 
preaching. 

2. Opposition of the Judaizing opponents who embittered his life and were the servants of Satan 
(2 Cor. xi. 13, 15), together with the cares and anxieties of his office generally. 2 A modification of 
the former view. No doubt the intrigues of the Judaizers and other mean people tried the Apostle 
very sorely, and sometimes provoked him to the use of sarcastic language, but they were necessary 
conditions of the development of Christian truth and of his own system of doctrine. 

3. A bad wife (like Job's). But Paul was probably never married (1 Cor. vii. 7-9) ; and if he had 
been, he would certainly not have prayed for the removal of his wife. This and similar fancies are 
only worth mentioning as curiosities of exegesis. 

III. MORAL AND SPIRITUAL TRIALS. 

1. Carnal temptations. Paul had to contend with a rebellious sensuality, without, however, being 
overcome by it. This is the ascetic explanation, vaguely suggested by Jerome, favored by the ambigu- 
ous Latin rendering of the ' thorn in the flesh ' [stimulus carnis), and adopted by most of the mediaeval 
and Roman Catholic commentators. Cornelius a Lapide calls it the common interpretation of the 
Catholics. Cardinal Hugo fancied that the passion was stimulated by the beautiful St. Thecla, one of 
Paul's converts and companions (according to apocryphal accounts). Many an ascetic saint, beset by 
the devil in this way, derived comfort from the belief that Paul was tempted in the same way. Passages 
like 1 Cor. ix. 27 : ' I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage ; ' Rom. vii. 23 : ' the law of sin in my 
members;' Eph. vi. 16 (the ' firetipt darts of the wicked one'), are quoted in support. But the 
word 'thorn' was never used of the sting of sensuous impulse. What is more conclusive, Paul says 
expressly with reference to marriage and carnal temptations that he wished all men were as free as he, 
1 Cor. vii. 7-9. We look in vain for stronger condemnation of all impurity than in his Epistles. It is 
preposterous to suppose that he who was all-absorbed in the service of Christ should have been pur- 
sued by a sinful passion to such an extent as to be hindered in his ministry and to become an object of 
contempt and loathing to his converts. And how in the world could he glory in shameful lusts ? 
And how could concupiscence be a check and counter-poise to spiritual pride ? 3 

2. Violent temper. This does not answer the description at all. No doubt Paul, like most great 
men, had fiery passions, but under the control of reason, and made subservient to his work. He 
handled good old Peter rather severely at Antioch ; he separated even from his friend Barnabas for a 
while on account of Mark ; he nearly lost his temper when he reviled the high priest ; and his Epis- 
tles generally are full of sacred fire. Nothing great can be done without enthusiasm, guided by reason. 
Strong temper is as useful as a strong physical constitution when employed in a good cause. Abuse 
of temper is always humiliating and a sign of weakness. But some people have no temper to control, 
and hence deserve no credit for moderation. 

3. Spiritual temptations, such as doubt, despondency, faint-heartedness in his calling, torments of 
conscience on account of his former life, disappointed ambition, blasphemous suggestions of the devil. 4 
Paul no doubt had constant conflicts with the powers of darkness, and often felt weary of the strife, 
and home-sick after heaven (comp. 2 Cor. v. 1-5; Phil. i. 23 ; 2 Tim. iv. 6), but he never shows the 
least misgiving as to his faith and his ministry. Having seen the Lord personally, and having been 
favored repeatedly with special revelations, he would rather have doubted his own existence than the 
truth of the gospel or his duty as an Apostle. 

PRACTICAL LESSONS. 

1. Paul's 'thorn in the flesh,' no matter what it was, heightens our conception of his heroism and 
all-absorbing devotion to Christ, for whom he was ready to suffer all things and to sacrifice life itself. 

2. The diversity of interpretations arises from the want of definite information and reflects the 
personal experiences and trials of the commentators. The impossibility of attaining at a certain re- 
sult facilitates the applicability and practical usefulness of that undefined ' infirmity.' 

1 Chrysostom and other Greek commentators. Augustin is also quoted in favor of this view, but he suggested different 
conjectures and had no fixed opinion on this subject. 

2 Theodoret, Erasmus, Calvin, Beza, Schrader, Reiche, etc. 

s Meyer calls this Roman interpretation ' a crime against the great Apostle.' But it is psychologically interesting, as 
showing that excruciating carnal temptations may enter into the experience of earnest monks, priests, and holy men. St. 
Jerome speaks of them rather indelicately in letters to female friends, whom he exhorts to keep the vow of chastity. St. 
Augustin bewails the recurrence in dreams of the old sensuous pictures after his conversion. 

4 So Gerson, Luther, Calov, Mosheim, and others. Luther often had Satanic suggestions, and traced the gravel, which 
troubled him very much, to the devil. In his earlier commentary on Gal. (1519), he explained Paul's infirmity with Chrys- 
ostom of persecutions; in his fuller commentary (1535), he added high spiritual temptations; and lastly in his Table-Talk, 
he mentions the latter only. 



Chap. IV. 21-31.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 5 1 

3. Every Christian has a ' thorn in his flesh,' either physical, or spiritual, or external. Some have 
more than one. It may be sickness, or poverty, or misfortune, or persecution, or doubt, or despondency, 
or unruly temper, or a bad husband, a bad wife, bad children, or any other kind of trouble. 

4. The object and use of a thorn in the flesh is to keep us humble and near the cross. It is a 
check to pride, vanity, sensuality, and other sins. Human nature is too weak to stand uninterrupted 
prosperity without injury. 

5. The thorn in the flesh aids us in developing the passive virtues, meekness, gentleness, patience, 
resignation. We are often laid on the back that we may learn to look up to heaven. When Paul 
was weakest in the flesh, he was strongest in spirit. ' And what his trial was to him and to the world 
on a large scale, that the trial of each individual Christian may have been ever since, the means, in 
ways inconceivable to him now, of making himself and others strong in the service of God and 
man.' l 

6. The comfort in answer to our prayers for deliverance from our thorn in the flesh is that which 
was given to Paul : ' My grace is sufficient for thee ; for (My) strength is made perfect in weakness.' 
The same answer, though we hear it not, is returned to us in similar trials. Prayer is often refused 
in one form, but answered in a far better form than we can conceive. The cross of Christ is the 
strength of Christianity. 2 



Continuation of the Argument by a Biblical Allegory. 
Chapter IV. 21-31. 

The Apostle resumes his argument for the superiority of the gospel over the law, and illustrates 
the difference of the two by an allegorical interpretation of the history of Sarah and Hagar, and their 
sons. 

21 r ■ ^ELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, 1 do ye not 

22 JL hear the law ? 2 For it is written that Abraham had two* Gen. xvi. 

23 sons, "the one by a 3 bondmaid, *the other by a free woman. 4 * Gen.xxi. 2. 

^ J J c Rom. ix. 7, 

But he who was of the bondwoman 5 c was born after the flesh ; d ^ en xvii; 

24 d but he of the free woman 6 was by promise. 7 Which things '"'^hS. 1 ' 
are an allegory : 8 for these 9 are the 10 two covenants ; the one xi " "' 
from the 11 mount e Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, 12 which ' ^ eut - xxxlu> 

25 is Agar. 13 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, 14 and an- 
swereth to Jerusalem 15 which now is, and is 16 in bondage with 

26 her children. But 17 •''Jerusalem which is above is free, which is/ is. u. 2; 

27 the mother of us all. 18 For it is written, 2^ Re".' Hi. 

a ' Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not ; 
' Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not : 

I or, under law 2 Law 8 the 
4 the freewoman 5 the son from the bondmaid 
6 the son from the free woman 7 is through the promise 
8 are allegorized 9 these wo7nen 10 omit the 

II omit the 12 bringing forth unto bondage 18 and this is Hagar 

14 Some of the best authorities omit Hagar, and read, For Sinai is a moun- 
tain in Arabia. The clause should be enclosed in parentheses. 

15 correspondeth to the Jerusalem 16 for she is ** the 
18 and she is our mother 

1 Stanley. 

2 Compare the couplet of Schiller (his best) : — 

' Religion des Kreuzes nur du verkniipfest in Einem Kranze 
Der Demuth und Kraft doppelte Palme zugleich.' 



12 ; xxi..2 r 

g Isa. liv. 



52 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. IV. 21-31 

' For the desolate hath many more children 
' Than she which hath a husband.' 19 

28 Now we, 20 brethren, as Isaac was, are " the 21 children of prom-* r^Ix. 2 / 

29 ise. But as then ' he that was born after the flesh persecuted 

30 him that was bom after the Spirit, k even so it is 22 now. Never 
theless what saith l the Scripture ? 

m ' Cast out the bondwoman 23 and her son : for " the son of ' 
the bondwoman shall not be heir 2i with the son of the free' 

31 woman.' 25 So then, 26 brethren, we are not children of the 27 
bondwoman, ° but of the free. 28 

19 Many are the children of the desolate, 
More than of her who hath the husband 
20 But ye 21 omit the 22 omit it is 

23 bondmaid (as in vers. 11 and 22) M shall in no wise inherit 

25 freewoman 26 Wherefore (according to the most approved reading, 816) 
27 a 28 the freewoman 



k Chap^l'/i; 
I Chap.'iii. 8, 
v Gen. xxi. 

: John viu. 

35- 



John viii. 
36 ; chap. v. 



Ver. 21. Tell me. This makes the question 
more urgent and compels the Judaizing Gala- 
tians to an evangelical answer. — Ye that desire 
to be under law, do ye not hear the Law ] Ye 
who are so anxious to live under the power and 
authority of the legal dispensation, will ye not 
listen to the lesson of the book of the Law ? Comp. 
Matt. xiii. 13; xxiv. 15; Luke xvi. 29. Others 
take it as a question of astonishment ! Is not the 
Law (which ought to convince you of your error) 
constantly read in your synagogues ? Comp. 
Luke iv. 16 ; John xii. 32 ; Acts xv. 21 ; 2 Cor. 
iii. 14. The law in the first clause means the legal 
institute and authority ; the Law in the second 
clause designates, as often, the Pentateuch (the 
Thora), as distinct from the Prophets (Nebiini), 
and the remaining sacred writings (Chetubim or 
Hagiographa). 

Ver. 22. Abraham had two sons, one by the 
bondmaid, the other by the freewoman. See Gen. 
xvi. 1 ff. ; xxi. 1 ff. The ' bondmaid ' is Hagar, the 
'freewoman' is Sarah. In the national legends 
of the Mohammedan Arabs who derive their de- 
scent from Ishmael , Hagar is represented as the 
lawful wife, and Ishmael as the legitimate son of 
Abraham ; they settled in Mecca and were re- 
freshed from the well in the holy Kaaba, which 
was from time immemorial and is to this day a 
sanctuary and resort of pilgrimage. The Moham- 
medans pray five times a day with their face 
turned to Mecca. It is remarkable how the re- 
lation of Ishmael to Abraham has been perpet- 
uated in history. The Mohammedans are in their 
religion genuine Ishmaelites, bastard Jews, and 
wild sons of the desert, whose hands are against 
every man. (Gen. xvi. 12). 

Ver. 23. But the son from the bondmaid was 
born after the flesh, in the regular course of na- 
ture. (Used somewhat differently in Rom. i. 3 
and ix. 5.) But the son of the freewoman is 
through the promise, by virtue of supernatural in- 
fluence, by the Spirit of God working through the 
word of promise (as in the conception of our 
Lord). Gen. xvii. 16, 19; xviii. 10, 11 ; comp. 
Rom. iv. 19. 

Ver. 24. Which things are allegorized, allegor- 



ically expounded, have an allegorical signification. 
The story of Hagar and Sarah has another 
(namely, a figurative, typical) meaning, besides 
(not, instead of) the literal or historical. Paul 
does not deny the fact, but makes it the bearer of 
a general idea, which was more fully expressed 
in two covenants. He uses allegorical here in a 
sense similar to the word 'typical' in I Cor. x. 11 
(Greek). See the Excursus. ' Allegory ' means a 
description of one thing under the figure of an- 
other, so that the real or intended meaning differs 
from the obvious sense of the words ; the verb ' to 
allegorize ' (only used here in the New Testament) 
means, ( 1 ) to speak in an allegory or figuratively, 
that is so as to intend another sense than the 
words express ; (2) to interpret as an allegory, 
and in the passive mood : to have an allegorical 
meaning. So here. — For these (two women, 
Hagar and Sarah) are two covenants. They ' are ' 
allegorically, that is, they represent or signify, two 
covenants. Comp. Matt. xiii. 39 ; xxvi. 26-28 ; 
1 Cor. x. 4. — One (of them) from Mount Sinai, 
bringing forth (or bearing children) unto bondage ; 
and this is Hagar. The regular antithesis would 
be : 'the other from Mount Sion (which corre- 
sponds to the upper Jerusalem), bearing children 
unto freedom ; and this is Sarah.' This is sub- 
stantially expressed in ver. 26, but owing to the 
intervening explanatory parenthesis, ver. 25, the 
grammatical form melts away in the general struc- 
ture. Besides the parallel is not quite complete ; 
for Sarah was the mother not only of the true 
spiritual children of Abraham, but also of those 
carnal Jews who are no better than the children 
of Hagar, who strictly speaking stood outside of 
the Sinaitic covenant and became through her 
illegitimate son Ishmael the mother of a bastard 
Judaism (the religion of Mohammed). 

Ver. 25. A difficult passage. The reading of the 
first clause is disputed. The longer text (which 
is supported by the Vatican MS. and adopted bv 
"Westcott and Hort) reads : But (or, Now) this 
Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. 1 This implies 



1 A, B, D, E read to S 
pta. K, L, P, with the 
(for) instead of Si (but, >. 






: MbS 



> rfj 'Apa- 



Chap. IV. 21-31.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



53 



that the name Hagar was an Arabic designation 
for Mount Sinai, but this cannot be satisfactorily 
proven (as the testimonies of Chrysostom and the 
Bohemian traveller Harant are isolated and un- 
confirmed). Hagar means 'Wanderer,' 'Fugi- 
tive,' and is connected with the Arabic 'Hegira' 
(the famous ' flight ' of Mohammed from Mecca to 
Medina, whence the beginning of the Moham- 
medan era) ; Sinai means ' Pointed,' or (accord- 
ing to Fiirst) ' Rocky.' There is, however, an 
Arabic word of similar sound, though different 
etymology, (' Hadschar,' or ' Hadjar,' 'Chajar'), 
which means a ' stone ' or a ' rock,' and is to this 
day applied to several remarkable stones on and 
around Sinai, e. g. to the traditional rock from 
which Moses drew water (in the Wady Leja). At 
the time of Paul, who was himself in Arabia (see 
note on i. 17), it may have been (and in case this 
reading is correct, it must have been) a local 
name of one of the peaks of that group of barren 
rocks, or of the whole group ; as ' Selah ' or ' Pe- 
tra' ('Rock') was the name of the famous rock- 
hewn city, in the Sinaitic Peninsula, and that part 
of Arabia was called the ' Rocky Arabia ' [Arabia 
Petraa). At present the principal peaks of Sinai 
are called ' Jebel Musa' (Mount of Moses, the 
traditional mount of legislation), ' Ras Sufsafeh ' 
{'Cat probable mount of legislation, facing the vast 
plain Er Raha), and 'Jebel Katharina.' Calvin 
and others escape this difficulty by explaining : 
' Hagar is a type of (or, represents) Mount Sinai 
in Arabia.' But against this is the Greek neuter 
article before Hagar ('the tiling' or 'the name' 
Hagar; not in the feminine, 'the woman Hagar'). 
The shorter reading (of the Sinaitic MS. and the 
Vulgate, adopted by Lachmann, Tischendorf, in 
the last edition, and Lightfoot) is : For Sinai is a 
mountain in Arabia. 1 This is quite intelligible 
and free from the difficulty just mentioned, though 
for this very reason subject to the suspicion of 
being a correction, if it were not for the ease with 
which the insertion of Hagar can be explained in 
the Greek. Some take the clause in either case 
as a parenthesis, others as a continuation of the 
argument. It cannot be merely a geographical no- 
tice for the Galatians ; for Sinai was well known 
to all who had heard of the Mosaic legislation. 
The stress seems to lie on ' Arabia,' known as a 
land of the wild descendants of Hagar. She fled 
with Ishmael to the Sinaitic Peninsula (Gen. xvi. 
7, 14) ; several Arab tribes were named after her 
'Hagarenes' or 'Hagarites' (Ps. lxxxiii. 7; 1 
Chr. v. 19), and the Arabs generally were called 
'sons of Hagar' (Baruch iii. 23). The law was 
given not on Mount Sion in the land of promise, 
but outside of it in Arabia, and this corresponds 
to Hagar who was an outsider, an Egyptian slave. 
The law 'came in beside' (iii. 19; Rom. v. 20), 
and had only an intermediate and transitory im- 
portance in the history of salvation. — Corre- 
spondeth to the Jerusalem which now is. Lit. : 
belongs to the same row or column, is in the same 
rank with. Both have the same nature, namely, 
both are in bondage. But what is the subject of 
the verb ? If the preceding clause be taken as a 
parenthesis, the subject is the Sinaitic covenant, 
ver. 24 ; but if it is not parenthetical, Hagar is 
the subject in the longer reading,' or Mount Sinai 
in the shorter reading. 'The Jerusalem which 

1 To yap Sira opos eori* ey _-nj 'ApafiCq. So Si C, F, G, 
Vulg., Orig. The words^ro yap might easily be changed by 
a careless scribe into to "Ayap, as this name immediately 
precedes the disputed reading. 



now is,' or the present, the earthly Jerusalem, 
which represents, as the metropolis, the whole 
Jewish race, the Mosaic theocracy. — For she is in 
bondage with her children. In bondage to the Mo- 
saic law (also to Rome, although this is not meant 
here). The Jewish church which crucified the 
Lord and persecutes the Christian church, is in 
spiritual slavery, as Hagar was in literal slavery. 
We must here remember the Pauline distinction 
between two Israels, a spiritual Israel which em- 
braces all believers, whether of the circumcision 
or of the uncircumcision, and is the true heir of 
promise, and the carnal Israel, which has only the 
circumcision of the flesh, and not of the heart, 
which is of the blood, but not of the faith of 
Abraham, and is cast out like Hagar and Ish- 
mael. Comp. Rom. ii. 26-29 5 ' v - I2 ff- ; ' x - 6 ff. 

Ver. 26. But the Jerusalem which is above 
(or, the upper Jerusalem) is free; and she is our 
mother (mother of us). The reading of the E. V. 
' of us aW is not sufficiently supported, and arose 
probably at an early time from Rom. iv. 16, 'the 
father of us all,' or from a loose quotation of this 
passage by Polycarp. The other covenant, that 
which is represented by Sarah and her believing 
offspring, is the true or heavenly Jerusalem, that 
is not (as the rabbinical teachers imagined) an 
actual material city in heaven (the exact counter- 
part of the earthly Jerusalem), which was to be let 
down in the Messianic age, but a spiritual city, 
the Messianic theocracy, the kingdom of heaven, 
to which all true Christians belong, even here on 
earth, Phil. iii. 20. The word ' above,' therefore 
is not local, but ethical and spiritual ; as in the 
phrase, ' the kingdom of heaven,' to be born ' from 
above.' Comp. the ' heavenly Jerusalem,' Hebr. 
xii. 22 (where it is contrasted with mount Sinai, 
ver. 18), the 'new Jerusalem,' Rev. iii. 12 ; xxi. 2. 
— 'And she is our mother,' the mother of us 
Christians. This passage and the concluding 
chapters of Revelation struck the keynote to the 
hymn ' Mother dear, Jerusalem,' and the other 
New Jerusalem hymns in Latin, English, and 
German, which express so touchingly the Chris- 
tian's longing after his eternal home in heaven. 

Ver. 27. ' Kejoice, thou barren that bearest 
not,' etc. An illustration of the allegory by a 
passage from Isa. liv. 1, which prophesies the 
deliverance of God's afflicted nation from the for- 
eign bondage of the Babylonian exile, and her res- 
toration to freedom and prosperity, so that from 
a mourning widow, like Sarah, she shall become 
a rejoicing mother of many children. The prophet 
himself, in a previous chapter (li. 2), refers to 
God's dealings with Abraham and Sarah, as a type 
of his dealings with their descendants. In the 
application, the barren who becomes fruitful, is 
the type of the Christian church, more especially 
the Gentile Christian church, as opposed to the 
Jewish synagogue. This application is fully jus- 
tified by the Messianic character of the whole sec- 
ond part of Isaiah (beginning with chap. xl.). 

Ver. 28. But ye, brethren, as Isaac was (or, 
after the manner of Isaac), are children of prom- 
ise. Resumes the main subject ; comp. ver. 23. 
Christian believers are born, like Isaac, of the 
unfruitful Sarah, contrary to the ordinary course 
of nature, by the supernatural power of the divine 
promise, and are therefore children of the heav- 
enly Jerusalem. 

Ver. 29. But as then he that was born after 
the flesh persecuted him (that zvas born) after the 
Spirit, even so now. The history of Isaac and 



54 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. IV. 21-31 



Ishmael was typical also in another respect, inas- 
much as it foreshadowed the hostility of the car- 
nal, unbelieving Judaism against Christianity. 
' Persecuted him.' According to the Hebrew text, 
Gen. xxi. 9, Ishmael was simply ' laughing ' or 
'mocking' at the festival in honor of the weaning 
of Isaac ; whereupon Sarah said unto Abraham : 
' Cast out this bondwoman and her son/ But the 
Jewish tradition expanded the word, so as to 
mean an assault of Ishmael upon Isaac. This 
insolence was repeated in the aggressions of the 
Arab tribes, especially the Hagarenes on the 
Israelites (Ps. lxxxiii. 7 ; I Chr. v. 10, 19), and on 
a still grander scale in the persecutions of the 
Mohammedans against Jews and Christians. — 
' Even so (it is) now.' So now the Christian 
church which is born of the Spirit, is persecuted 
by the Jewish synagogue which is born after the 
flesh. And this same conduct is repeated also 
by the bigoted Judaizing party against the free 
evangelical church of the Gentiles. 

Ver. 30. Nevertheless what saith the Scrip- 
ture ? ' Cast out the bondmaid and her son ; for 
the son of the bondmaid shall in no wise in- 
herit with the son of the freewoman.' Words of 
Sarah to Abraham on the occasion of the mock- 
ing of Ishmael, Gen. xxi. 10, but approved and 
confirmed by God, ver. 12, so that Ishmael was 
actually expelled from the house of Abraham. 
Paul quotes from the LXX., with a slight change 
of 'my son Isaac' into ' the son of the freewom- 
an,' which adapts it to his argument and saves 
explanation. The Apostles were no slavish lit- 
eralists, but used the Bible freely in the very 
Spirit which gave it. — ' Shall in no wise inherit' 



The double negation in Greek is emphatic : as- 
suredly not. Judaism and Christianity, bondage 
and freedom, cannot exist together : the one must 
exclude the other. . This appears very plain to us 
now, but before the destruction of Jerusalem it 
sounded strange and incredible, at least to the 
Judaizers, who held on to the old traditions as 
long as they could. ' It is scarcely possible ' (says 
Lightfoot) ' to estimate the strength of convic- 
tion and depth which this declaration implies. 
The Apostle thus confidently sounds the death- 
knell of Judaism at a time when one half of Chris- 
tendom clung to the Mosaic law with a jealous 
affection little short of frenzy, and while the Ju- 
daic party seemed to be growing in influence and 
was strong enough, even in the Gentile churches 
of his own founding, to undermine his influence 
and endanger his life.' 

Ver. 31. Wherefore, brethren, we are not chil- 
dren of a (z. e. any) bondwoman, but of the free- 
woman. The pith of the typological illustration, 
ver. 21 ff., and the final result of the whole discus- 
sion of the fourth chapter. The change of the def- 
inite and indefinite article (so often obliterated by 
the E. V.) is not without point. There are many 
bondwomen, false churches and sects, but only one 
freewoman, the lawful spouse of Christ, in whom 
all true believers are one. Some eminent com- 
mentators begin with this verse a new section, as 
expressing the theoretical preamble of the practi- 
cal exhortation in chap, v., thus : ' Therefore, 
brethren, we are not children of a bondwoman 
(like the Jews), but of the freewoman ; for (or, 
unto) freedom Christ hath made us free: 'stand 
fast, therefore,' etc. (So Meyer.) 



Excursus on Allegorical and Typical Interpretation. 
Chapter IV. 21-31. 



We have here an ingenious specimen of a typical allegory. Paul represents Hagar (the slave and 
concubine) and Sarah (the mistress and lawful wife), with their sons, Ishmael and Isaac, as the types 
of two covenants, a covenant of law or bondage, and a covenant of promise or freedom. The con- 
trast of the two mothers is reproduced in their two sons, and on a larger scale in two religions, the 
Jewish and the Christian. It is again repeated in the antagonism between the legalistic Jewish, and 
the evangelical Gentile Christianity. The points of contrast are as follows : — 



Hagar and Ishmael = Judaism. 

The Old Covenant. 

The Law. 

Natural Birth. 

Mount Sinai in Arabia. 

Earthly Jerusalem. 

Bondage. 

Persecuting, 

Expulsion. 



Sarah and Isaac == Christianity. 

The New Covenant. 

The Gospel (the Promise). 

Spiritual Birth. 

(Mount Sion in the Land of Promise ?) 

Heavenly Jerusalern. 

Freedom. 

Persecuted. 

Inheritance. 



Paul accommodates himself here, as in two other instances (iii. 6 ; 1 Cor. x. 4), in some measure, 
but within the bounds of sobriety and legitimate application, to the prevailing rabbinipal exegesis in 
which he was trained, He does so exceptionally and incidentally. He does not rest the truth or the 
argument on an allegorical interpretation, but uses it as an accessory illustration of a truth previously 
established by solid argument. Luther compares it to a painting which decprates a house already 
built. 

Paul regards the patriarchal family with good reason as a miniature picture of the future history of 
the church, which it represented and anticipated. He does not in the least deny the historical char- 
acter of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar ; but he ascribes to it, at the same time, a wider typical import, 
and sees in Abraham the father of the faithful, in Sarah and Hagar the mothers of two races and two 
covenants, in which their personal character and condition is reflected and earned out on a larger 



Chap. IV. 21-31.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 55 

scale. This is all sound and true. The chief difficulty is in the identification of Hagar with Sinai, and 
this is much relieved by the shorter reading. In point of fact the law was given to the descendants 
of Sarah and Isaac, not to those of Hagar and Ishmael, who stood outside of the coven-ant. But 
Sarah and Isaac represented first and last the covenant of promise which overruled the interimistic 
covenant of law which was given in the desert borderland of the Ishmaelites, as a tutor to prepare the 
Israelites for the fulfilment of the promise. 

Now let us compare with this Scripture passage the allegorical interpretation of the same history 
by the celebrated Philo of Alexandria (about A. D. 40), the master of the art of allegorizing. Accord- 
ing to his view, Abraham represents the human soul progressing towards the knowledge of God. 
His first wife, Sarah, ' the princess,' represents divine wisdom. His second wife, Hagar, ' the so- 
journer,' the Egyptian handmaid of Sarah, means preparatory scholastic training or secular learning, 
which is transient and unsatisfying. His marriage with Sarah is at first premature and unfruitful ; 
hence she directs him to cohabit with her handmaid, that is to study the lower wisdom of the schools ; 
and the alliance proves fruitful at once. Afterwards he again unites himself to Sarah, who bears him 
a son with a countless offspring ; thus the barren woman becomes ' most fruitful.' Moreover, Isaac 
likewise represents true wisdom, Ishmael sophistry, which in the end must give place to wisdom, and 
be ' cast out.' 

The difference is very characteristic. As Lightfoot (p. 195) happily expresses it, ' the Christian Apos- 
tle and the philosophic Jew move in parallel lines, keeping side by side, and yet never once crossing 
each other's path.' Their allegorical explanations of the same history are ' most like and yet most 
unlike.' There is a similar relation of similitude and contrast between Philo's and St. John's doctrine 
of the divine Logos. It is the difference between a shadowy abstraction and a substantial reality. Philo 
sacrificed the obvious grammatical and historical sense to the spiritual and mystic ; the Apostles never 
invalidate the historical sense. Philo put his Platonic ideas and fancies into the Old Testament; the 
Apostles drew out the deeper meaning of the same. Philo idealized the Mosaic religion till it evapor- 
ated into philosophical abstractions and mythical shadows ; the Apostles spiritualized the Mosaic relig- 
ion, and saw in it the type of the truth and reality of the gospel. 

We add a few general remarks on typical and allegorical interpretation. 

1. The sacred authors used language, like other writers, in order to be understood by the people 
whom they addressed. They intended one definite meaning, not two or three. This meaning can 
only be ascertained by grammatical and historical interpretation, according to the acknowledged 
laws of thought and speech, and in view of the conditions and surroundings of the author. This is 
the only sound and firm basis of all true exegesis. 

2. The Bible has throughout a profound spiritual meaning, and admits of endless application. To 
find it, requires spiritual insight and sympathy, which is a greater and rarer gift than knowledge of 
grammar and critical acumen. But this spiritual meaning is in the letter, as the kernel is in the shell, 
and as the soul is in the body, not outside of, and contrary to, the plain, natural meaning of the words 
and phrases. Nor is it a second meaning besides the natural. 

3. The whole Jewish dispensation, — including history, prophecy, worship, and ritual, — is a type 
and shadow of the Christian dispensation (Col. ii. 17 ; Hebr. viii. 5; ix. 23; x. 1). Every person, 
event, and institution expresses an actual idea or fact which is more fully expressed or developed by 
a corresponding idea or fact in the Christian dispensation. The typical significance depends on the 
connection with the central idea of the theocracy and the preparation for Christianity. The nearer a 
person or event to the person of Christ and the history of redemption, the deeper is their typical im- 
port. In a wider sense all history is typical and prophetical, and every period is a higher fulfilment 
of the preceding period. Hence ' there is nothing new under the sun ; ' and yet history never repeats 
itself. The New Testament is full of typical interpretation and application of the Old Testament ; but 
there are no allegorical interpretations in the Gospels, and very few in the Epistles. 

4. Allegorical interpretation, technically so called, as distinct from typical illustration and verifica- 
tion, assumes a double or threefold sense of the Scriptures, an obvious literal sense and a hidden 
spiritual or mystic sense, both of which were intended by the sacred writer. It was introduced into 
the Christian church by the learned Origen, who in this respect was more a disciple of Philo than of 
Paul, and distinguished three senses of the Bible, corresponding to the three constituent elements in 
man, — body, soul, and spirit. It extensively prevailed with various modifications in the Christian 
church, especially during the Middle Ages, and again in the seventeenth century. It opened the door 
to the most arbitrary treatment of the Bible and turned it into a nose of wax. It is irreverently rev- 
erent. It assumes that the plain natural sense of the Bible is not deep enough and must be improved 
by human ingenuity. It substitutes subjective fancies for objective truths, and pious imposition for 
honest exposition. It is not dead yet, and falsely appeals to St. Paul ; forgetting that he was inspired, 
while we are not, and that he allegorized only two or three times, for illustration, rather than argu- 
ment. Calvin, one of the soundest commentators, strongly protests against this abuse of Scripture, 
and says : ' As the Apostle declares that these things are allegorized, Origen and many others along 
with him, have seized the occasion of torturing Scripture, in every possible manner, away from the 
true sense. They concluded that the literal sense is too mean and poor, and that, under the outward 
bark of the letter, there lurk deeper mysteries which cannot be extracted but by beating out allegories 
And this they had no difficulty in accomplishing ; for speculations which appear to be ingenious have 
always been preferred, and always will be preferred by the world to sound doctrine. For many centuries 
no man was considered to be ingenious, who had not the skill and daring necessary for changing into a 
variety of curious shapes the sacred word of God. This was undoubtedly a contrivance of Satan to 
undermine the authority of Scripture, and to take away from the reading of it the true benefit. God 
visited this profanation by a just judgment, when He suffered the pure meaning of the Scripture to 
be buried under false interpretations. I acknowledge that Scripture is a most rich and inexhaust- 
ible fountain of all wisdom, ; hut I deny that its fertility consists in the various meanings which any 



56 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. V. 1-12. 

man, at his pleasure, may assign. Let us know, then, that the true meaning of Scripture is the nat- 
ural and obvious meaning ; and let us embrace and abide by it resolutely.' 

5. But even if we admit that Paul's typical allegory in this passage borders on the rabbinical exe- 
gesis of his age, from which, however, it differs very materially as we have shown, it cannot weaken 
our confidence in his inspiration. I quote the judicious remarks of Bishop Lightfoot (p. 197) : ' We 
need not fear to allow that St. Paul's mode of teaching here is colored by his early education in the 
rabbinical schools. It were as unreasonable to stake the Apostle's inspiration on the turn of a met- 
aphor, or the character of an illustration, or the form of an argument, as on purity of diction. No 
one now thinks of maintaining that the language of the inspired writers reaches the classical standard 
of correctness and elegance, though at one time it was held almost a heresy to deny this. " A treasure 
contained in earthen vessels," " strength made perfect in weakness," " rudeness in speech, yet not in 
knowledge," such is the far nobler conception of inspired teaching, which we may gather from the 
Apostle's own language. And this language we should do well to keep in mind. But on the other 
hand it were sheer dogmatism to set up the intellectual standard of our own age or country as an in- 
fallible rule. The power of allegory has been differently felt in different ages, as it is differently felt 
at anyone time by diverse nations. Analogy, allegory, metaphor — by what boundaries are these 
separated from each other ? What is true or false, correct or incorrect, as an analogy, or an allegory ? 
What argumentative force must be assigned to either ? We should, at least, be prepared with an 
answer to these questions, before we venture to sit in judgment on any individual case.' 



CHAPTER V. 

Contents : I. Exhortation to Steadfastness in Christian Freedom, and Warning 
against Legal Bondage, vers. 1-12; II. Warning against the Abuse of Freedom, and 
Exhortation to Brotherly Love, vers. 13-15 ; III. Walking by the Spirit. The Works 
of the Flesh and the Fruit of the Spirit, vers. 16-26. 

Exhortation to Steadfastness in Christian Freedom, and Warning against 
Legal Bondage. 

Chapter V. 1-12. 

Here begins the practical part of the Epistle, consisting of exhortations and warnings appropriate 
to the occasion. First, the Apostle exhorts them to hold fast their spiritual freedom which they 
enjoy in Christ, and not to relapse again into legal bondage. 



QTAND fast therefore in a the liberty wherewith Christ hath" J°? 



John ' 



Rom. 



^J made us free, 1 and be not entangled again * with the 2 yoke \ s 6 ; r Pet " "• 

2 of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that c if ye be cir- b ^.li.^i wl 

3 cumcised, Christ shall 3 profit you nothing. For 4 I testify c Ac ts xv. 1. 
again to every man that is circumcised, d that he is a debtor to 3 ee ' 

4 do the whole law. e Christ is become of no effect unto you, 5 * Rom'.'ix.^'i, 
whosoever of you are justified by the law; 6 / ye are fallen 7 ai.' 

5 from grace. For we through the Spirit 8 "wait 9 for the hope e Rom', via. 

6 of righteousness by faith. For h in Jesus Christ 10 neither cir- Tim. w.s. 

. . . . . , . * 1 Cor - v »- 

cumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision ; but 'faith ig;ch.iii. 

J ° 28; vi. is; 

7 which worketh by love. 11 Ye *did run well; 12 l who did hin- . cd.in.11. 

' -I z 1 thess. 1. 3 ; 

1 for freedom did Christ make us free. See notes. 2 in a 20,22. ' 

8 will 4 Nay {others, Moreover) f Ch^iii.*'. 24 ' 

5 Ye are cut off from Christ (lit. Ye were done away from Christ) 

6 all ye who are being {or would be) justified by law 7 fallen away 

8 by the Spirit from faith (the words from faith are misplaced in the E. V. at 
the close of the verse) ? wait eagerly 10 Christ Jesus 

11 faith working through love f 2 Ye were running bravely 



Chap. V. 1-12.] 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



57 



8 der you that ye should not obey the truth ? This persuasion * 

9 cometh not of him m that calleth you. "A little leaven leaven- \ 
10 eth the whole lump. ° I have confidence in you through 13 the^ 

Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but p he that£ 
troubleth you Q shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be/ 

n r And I, brethren, if I yet u preach circumcision, * why do I yet,; 
suffer persecution ? 15 then is ' the offence of the cross ceased. 16 " 

12 " I would they were even cut off x which trouble you. 17 *■ 

13 toward you in u still 15 am I still persecuted ? 

16 hath .... been done away 

17 I wish that they who are unsettling you would go beyond circumcision (go 

on to abscission) 



Chip. 
2 Cor. 
Chap. 
iCor.. 
chap. i 
vi. 17. 
1 Cor. 
Josh.v 

chap, i 



Ver. 1. For freedom did Christ make (or set) 
us free : stand firm, therefore, and he not entan- 
gled again in a yoke of bondage. 1 This exhorta- 
tion is the inferential close of the argumentative, 
and a suitable beginning of the hortative, part of 
the Epistle. Some editors and commentators put 
the verse, either in whole or in part, at the end of 
chap. iv. Paul contrasts Christian freedom with 
Jewish bondage, and urges the Galatians to hold 
fast to the former, and not to relapse into the lat- 
ter, or to exchange one form of slavery (their na- 
tive heathenism) with another (Judaism). Hence 
' again.' ' Freedom ' is the outcome of the pre- 
ceding discussion, and is emphatically put first. 
' For,' or 'unto freedom ' (better than ' with free- 
dom,' although the Greek admits both), i. «?., in 
order that we might be and remain free. It is, of 
course, not carnal but spiritual freedom, freedom 
from the curse and bondage of the law, secured 
to the believer as a permanent condition by the 
vicarious death of Christ, which satisfied the de- 
mands of Divine justice and saved us from wrath. 
This freedom implies the consciousness of the 
full pardon of our sins, a ready and direct ac- 
cess to the throne of grace, and all the privileges 
and responsibilities of a son in his father's house. 
A Christian freeman is a grateful and cheerful 
servant of God, and a lord and king, though in 
chains, like Paul in Rome, who was a true free- 
man, while Nero on the throne was a misera- 
ble slave of his lusts. — ' Stand firm,' in this lib- 
erty of an evangelical Christian. — ' Yoke of 
bondage,' which bears down the neck and pre- 
vents free motion. Legalism is a burdensome 
slavery of the mind and conscience. Peter, in his 
speech at the Council of Jerusalem, likewise calls 
the law of Moses a ' yoke,' which ' neither our 
fathers nor we could bear,' Acts xv. 10. Luther 
remarks on this verse : ' Let us learn to count this 
our freedom most noble, exalted, and precious, 
which no emperor, no prophet, nor patriarch, no 
angel from heaven, but Christ, God's Son, hath 
obtained for us ; not for this that He might re- 
lieve us from a bodily and temporal subjection, 
but from a spiritual and eternal imprisonment of 
the cruelest tyrants, namely, the law, sin, death, 
devil.' Calvin : ' Paul reminds them that they 
ought not to despise a freedom so precious. And 

1 This is upon the whole the best reading (adopted by 
Bengel, Lachmann, Tischendorf, ed. viii., Meyer). The 
MSS. and versions vary considerably, although the sense is 
not essentially altered. The received text reads literally : 
' Stand firm therefore in (or, in respect to) the freedom with 



certainly it is an invaluable blessing, in defence of 
which it is our duty to fight even to death. If 
men lay upon our shoulders an unjust burden, it 
may be borne ; but if they endeavor to bring our 
conscience into bondage, we must resist valiantly, 
even to death.' 

Ver. 2. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if 
ye be circumcised (suffer yourselves to be circum- 
cised), Christ will profit you nothing. Your course 
is not only foolish, but dangerous, yea ruinous. 
A circumcised man may become a Christian, but 
a Christian who deliberately undergoes circumcis- 
ion, becomes a Jew (a 'proselyte of righteous- 
ness ') and virtually trusts to the law for salva- 
tion, and not to Christ. ' Behold ' rouses atten- 
tion. ' I, Paul ' interposes the apostolic authority, 
in opposition to the Judaizing teachers who taught 
that circumcision was necessary to make them full 
Christians and to insure salvation. ' If ye be cir- 
cumcised,' or 'submit to circumcision,' as a term 
of salvation ; some had probably done so already. 
' Christ will profit you nothing ; ' the future marks 
the certain result of this Judaizing course. Lu- 
ther : 'If St. Paul can venture to pass so terri- 
ble a judgment against the law and circumcision 
which God himself has given, what kind of judg- 
ment would he utter upon the chaff and the dross 
of men's ordinances ? Wherefore this text is 
such a thunder-clap, that by right the whole papal 
realm should be astounded and terrified.' 

Ver. 3. Nay, I testify again to every man that 
is circumcised (suffers himself to be circumcised), 
that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Circum- 
cision is an initiatory rite by which the person cir- 
cumcised becomes a' Jew, and assumes the solemn 
obligation to keep the whole law of Moses, moral 
and ritual ; just as the baptismal vow is a pledge 
of obedience to the gospel of Christ. The sac- 
ramental rite implies all the responsibilities and 
duties as well as privileges of membership. ' I 
testify,' I bear witness, I solemnly assert as in 
court. (In classical Greek the verb usually means 
to summon as a witness, to call to witness.) 
' Again ' refers to ' I say ' in ver. 2. ' To every 
man,' without exception, stronger than the pre- 
ceding general ' ye.' 

Ver. 4. Ye are cut off from Christ all ye who 
are being (or, would be) justified by (the) law; 

which (or, for which) Christ made us free, and be not,' etc 
(tj5 e\ev9€pia ouf, fi Xpiorbs rjnas ■qXevdep-qa^v , <rnJ*eT€). 
But the oldest MSS. (S B, etc.) put ' therefore ' (oix) after 
'stand' (<rT)j«Te), and omit 'with which '(rj). The punctua- 
tion is a matter of interpretation. 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



58 

ye are fallen away from grace. ' Ye are cut off 

from Christ,' completely separated from Him. 
The Greek verb means to be annulled, to be done 
away with. Your union with Christ was dis- 
solved and came to nothing in the moment when 
you sought your justification in the law. ' Ye 
are fallen away from grace,' not totally and finally 
(in which case the warning would be useless), but 
for the time being. Looking to God's promise 
and faithfulness, our salvation is sure ; looking 
to our weakness and temptations, all is doubtful, 
unless we watch and pray without ceasing. 

Ver. 5. For we, by the Spirit, from faith wait 
eagerly for the hope of righteousness. 'For' in- 
troduces an argument from the opposite for the 
judgment passed in ver. 4 against those who seek 
justification by the law. ' By the Spirit,' the Holy 
Spirit, who is the Divine source of faith and spir- 
itual life in us. ' From faith,' which is the sub- 
jective source of our expectation. ' Wait eagerly,' 
or persistently, patiently. The hope of the Chris- 
tian does not decline, but increase until the time 
of fruition. Comp. Rom. viii. 19, 23, 25 ; 1 Cor. 
i. 7 ; Phil. iii. 20. ' For the hope of righteous- 
ness,' the righteousness hoped for by us a's a pos- 
session that is secured here by faith, but extends 
into eternity and involves the bliss and glory of 
the future life. Comp. Rom. viii. 30. Others take 
' hope ' as equivalent to the crown of glory which 
awaits the justified as their reward. The passage 
affords no aid to the doctrine of a gradual increase 
of justification, which, as Meyer says here, ' is en- 
tirely un-Pauline. Justification does not, like sanc- 
tification, unfold itself and increase, but it has as 
its normal consequence sanctification through the 
Spirit, which is given to him who is justified by 
faith. Thus Christ is to us righteousness and 
sanctification. I Cor. i. 30.' 

Ver. 6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision 
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ; but faith 
working (or operative) through love. A most im- 
portant passage both doctrinally and practically, a 
remedy against sectarianism, and a key for the so- 
lution of many bitter controversies in the history 
of the Church. Paul positively condemned cir- 
cumcision as a term of justification and salvation ; 
now he qualifies the condemnation, viewing cir- 
cumcision as a mere outward form and accidental 
distinction. A Jewish Christian and a Gentile 
Christian are equal before God ; the circumcision 
of the one is no advantage, and the uncircumcis- 
ion of the other is no disadvantage : all depends 
upon their union with Christ. Comp. Gal. vi. 15 ; 
1 Cor. vii. 18-20. ' For in Christ Jesus neither 
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcis- 
ion.' May we not add in the very spirit of Paul ? 
' neither episcopacy nor presbytery, neither pres- 
bytery nor independency, neither immersion nor 
sprinkling, neither Calvinism nor Arminianism, 
neither Catholicism nor Protestantism, nor any 
other isms, however important in their place, are 
of any account, when compared with the funda- 
mental difference between faith and infidelity, be- 
tween Christ and anti-Christ. Heaven will em- 
brace members of all creeds and sects, and the 
sole condition of entrance will be 'faith working 
through love.' The Greek verb (evepyov/j.ai) here 
translated ' working,' or ' operative,' has in the 

1 Advocated by some of the fathers and Roman Catholic 
commentators in support of the doctrine of 'fides caritate 
formata] for which the passage is quoted by the Council 
uf Trent in the decree on justification (Sess. vi., ch. 7). 
Windischmann, a modern R. C. commentator on Galatians, 
gives up the passive meaning, but still clings to the Triden- 



[Chap. V. 



New Testament always the middle sense (comp. 
Rom. viii. 5; 2 Cor. i. 6; Col. i. 29 ; I Thess. 
ii. 13 ; James v. 16). The passive rendering : 
'wrought'' or 'made energetic through love,' must 
be abandoned. 1 Paul unites here the three cardi- 
nal virtues, faith, hope (ver. 5), and love. In this 
triad of Christian graces ' consists the whole of 
Christianity' (Bengel). 

The sentence, ' faith working through love,' rec- 
onciles the doctrine of Paul with that of James. 2 
Comp. vi. 15 ; 1 Thess. i. 3 ; 1 Cor. xiii. ; I Tim. 
i. 5 ; James ii. 22. Here is the basis for a final 
settlement of the controversy on the .doctrine of 
justification. Romanism (following exclusively 
the language of James) teaches justification by 
faith and works ; Protestantism (on the authority 
of Paul) .-justification by faith alone ; St. Paul and 
St. James combined : justification and salvation by 
faith working through love. Man is justified by 
faith alone, but faith remains not alone, it is the 
fruitful mother of good works, which are summed 
up in love to God and love to men. Faith and 
love are as inseparable as light and heat in the sun. 
Christ's merits are the objective and meritorious 
ground of justification, faith (as the organ of ap- 
propriation) is the subjective condition, love or 
good works are the necessary evidence ; without 
love faith is dead, according to James, or no faith 
at all, according to Paul. A great deal of misun- 
derstanding in this and other theological contro- 
versies has arisen from the different use of terms. 

Ver 7. Ye were running bravely. The mar- 
tial and heroic spirit of Paul often compares the 
course of Christian life with the running of a race 
in the stadium. Comp. ii. 2 ; Phil. iii. 14; I Cor. 
ix. 24-27 ; 2 Tim. iv. 7. 

Ver 8. Of him that calleth you, God ; comp. 
note on i. 6 ; and Phil. iii. 13, ' the prize of the high 
calling of God in Christ Jesus.' The Father 
draws to the Son by the Spirit through the gospel. 

Ver. 9. A little leaven leaveneth the whole 
lump. A proverbial expression for the all-per- 
vading influence of a good or bad principle. Here 
used in a bad sense, as 1 Cor. v. 6 and Mark viii. 
15, and often by rabbinical writers. The Judaizing 
doctrine of the necessity of circumcision poisons 
the whole system of Christian doctrine and prac- 
tice. Others less aptly apply it to the persons of 
the false teachers who corrupt the mass of the 
people. In a good sense the figure of the leaven 
is used of the kingdom of heaven which pene- 
trates all the faculties and powers of man and of 
society. Matt. xiii. 32 ; Luke xiii. 2T. 

Ver. 10. I have confidence toward (or in regard 
to) you in the lord, etc. Paul hopes that the 
Galatians will return from their error, and this 
hope is grounded in his communion with Christ 
in whom he lived and moved. Comp. Phil. ii. 24 ; 
2 Thess. iii. 4 ; Rom. xiv. 14. — He that troubleth 
you, all the false teachers. Comp. ver. 12 ; 2 Cor. 
xi. 4. — Shall bear his judgment, God's judgment 
of condemnation. Comp. Rom. ii. 3 ; xiii. 2 ; 1 
Cor. xi. 29. The guilty must ' bear ' the sentence 
as a burden. — Whosoever he be, whatever be his 
character and position (Jerome thinks even of 
Peter, but without any good reason ; for Peter 
agreed with Paul in principle and failed only in 
practice at Antioch.) 

tine use of the passage against the Protestant doctrine of 
juMilicaiion by faith only 

2 Lightfoot: ' These words bridge the gulf which seems to 
separate the language of St. Paul and St. James. Both as- 
sert a principle of practical energy, as opposed to a barren, 
inactive theory.' 



Chap. V. 13-15.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



59 



Ver. 11. If I still preach circumcision, why am 
I still persecuted'? Then hath the offence (or 
stumbling block) of the cross been done away. 
The first ' still ' refers to the time since his con- 
version from Judaism. If circumcision is preached 
as a condition of salvation, then the cross, that is, 
the crucifixion, the doctrine of salvation by the 
atoning death of Christ, has lost its offensive char- 
acter to the Jews, and there is no further reason 
for persecution by the Jews. The false teachers 
had probably spread the malicious report that Paul 
himself preached circumcision, because he prac- 
tised it in the case of Timothy who had a Jewish 
mother (Acts xvi. 1-3) ; but this was exceptional 
and a measure of expediency and charity, not a 
surrender of the principle. 

Ver. 12. I wish that they who are unsettling 
you would even go on to abscission ; that the cir- 
cumcisers would not stop with the half measure 
of circumcision, but go beyond it even to abscis- 
sion or mutilation (make themselves eunuchs), like 
the priests of Cybele. A severe irony similar to 
the one in Phil. iii. 2, 3, where Paul calls the 



boasters of 'circumcision' the ' excision.' Self- 
mutilation was a recognized form of heathen wor- 
ship, especially in Pessinus in Galatia, and there- 
fore quite familiar to the readers. Thus by 
glorying in the flesh the Galatians relapsed into 
their former heathenism. The words may be ex- 
plained : ' cut themselves off ' from your com- 
munion, but the interpretation above given agrees 
best with the meaning of the verb, and the 'even' 
(which points to something more than circum- 
cision), and is maintained by the Greek fathers and 
the best modern commentators. The translation 
of the E. V. ' were even cut off,' i. e., excom- 
municated, is ungrammatical (the Greek verb is in 
the middle, not the passive mood), and due to false 
delicacy. Christianity has abolished the revolt- 
ing practice of self-mutilation, so that even the 
word is offensive ; but in the days of Paul it was 
still in full force in Galatia, and is continued 
among Mohammedans who employ many eunuchs 
(especially in harems). Paul had evidently the 
dangerous power of sarcasm, but he used it very 
sparingly, and only in a worthy cause. 



Warning against the Abuse of Freedom, and Exhortation to Brotherly Love. 
Chapter V. 13-15. 



In the spirit of true Christian wisdom and moderation, the Apostle now warns the readers against 
the danger of abusing Christian freedom and running it into antinomian license. This passage is 
chiefly directed to those Galatians who remained faithful to the free gospel as preached by Paul, but 
were exposed to the danger of running into the opposite extreme of lawlessness. 



13 



FOR, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; 1 only a ' c °p 
a use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, 2 but b by b l% or . 



14 love serve one another. For c all the law 3 is fulfilled in one $; 2 p- 
word, even in this : d 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' c ^f!JL$!' 40 
But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not d leTx'x 8 
consumed one of another. xxn.'™;'' 



15 



1 For ye were called unto freedom, brethren 

2 turn not your freedom into an occasion for the flesh 

3 the entire law 



Rom. 

8,9. 



Ver. 13. For ye were called unto freedom, 
brethren. The word 'for' justifies the indignant 
scorn of the preceding verse. ' Unto ' denotes the 
object of the Christian calling. — Only (turn) not 
your freedom into an occasion (or, opportunity) 
for the flesh. A sudden check : freedom, but not 
license. Trus freedom is self-government and 
inseparable from law ; it is a law to itself. How 
often has the word freedom been abused and per- 
verted into its diabolical caricature ! So also the 
truly Christian ideas of equality and fraternity. 
Gentile churches, like that of Corinth, were espe- 
cially liable to the abuse of freedom and sensual 
excesses. The verb turn or make or use must be 
supplied (as often in animated passages of the 
classical writers). 'An occasion,' a starting-point, 
an opportunity (comp. Rom. vii. 8, 11 ; 2 Cor. v. 



12 ; xi. 12; 1 Tim. v. 14). — But by love serve 
one another. By faith we are lords, by love we 
are servants of all. Show your freedom by love, 
and your love by service. This kind of bondage 
is honorable and delightful. ' To serve God is 
true freedom ' ( Augustin). 

Ver. 14. For the entire law is (hath been and 
is) fulfilled in one word (even), in this : Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The law com- 
mands supreme love to God (in the first table), 
and love to our neighbor as to ourselves (in the 
second table). Love to our neighbor springs 
necessarily from love to God, and is impossible 
without it. The teaching of Christ (Matt. xxii. 
39) and of the Apostle (comp. Rom. xiii. 8, 9) 
here perfectly agree. ' The neighbor.' In the He- 
brew law, Levit. xix. 18, probably restricted to the 



6o 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. V. 16-25 



Jewish people, but by Christ extended to the uni- like wild beasts. How applicable this to all sec- 

versal brotherhood of men. Comp. Matt. v. 43, tarian and partisan strifes which turn the church 

and the parable of the good Samaritan, Luke x. into a battle-field and impair its force against the 

29. common enemy ! 
Ver. 15. But if ye bite and devour one another, 



Walking by the Spirit. The Works of the Flesh and the Fruit of the Spirit. 
Chapter V. 16-25. 

Paul exhorts the Galatians to lead a truly Christian life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and 
contrasts the vices of the flesh with the graces of the Spirit. Such exhortations and contrasts are 
impossible on heathen soil, or in the sphere of natural morality, and reveal the lofty spirituality of 
the Christian religion. 

16 HTHIS I say then, 1 a Walk in 2 the Spirit, and ye shall not 3 * ^"7*; 

17 1 fulfil the lust of the flesh. For b the flesh lusteth vers.lV;V 
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and 4 these b iwvi"' 
are contrary 5 the one to the other; c so that ye cannot 6 do the c R m!vi?.' 7 

18 things that ye would. But d if ye be 7 led of the Spirit, e ye are d Rom 8 viii 9 'i 4 

19 not under the law. Now ■''the works of the flesh are manifest, /ic^iii't; 
which are these, 8 Adultery, 9 fornication, uncleanness, lascivious- 21 ; Eph. V. 

20 ness, Idolatry, witchcraft, 10 hatred, 11 variance, 12 emulations, 13 s; James iii 

21 wrath, 14 strife, 15 seditions, 16 heresies, 17 Envyings, murders, 18 Mark™, 
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the 19 which I tell*'£S° r - vi -9 

Eph. v. 5 ; 

you before, 20 as I have also told you in time past, 21 that g they £ol hl 6 ; 
which 22 do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. h yj hn xv 2 . 

22 But h the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, . clt'm. \ 2 ■ 

23 * gentleness, 23 * goodness, 'faith, 24 Meekness, temperance: 25 J 7 amesm - 

24 m against such there is no law. And 26 they that are Christ's 27 * feSi* 
n have crucified 28 the flesh with the 29 affections 30 and lusts. m 7 [ Tim. i. 9. 

25 "If we live in 31 the Spirit, let us also walk in 31 the Spirit. * xiiTi/T ' 

26 y Let us not be desirous of vainglory, 32 provoking one another, Spft.a'.«! 

Rom. viii. 

envying one another. 4, 5 ; vers 

1 Now I say 2 by 8 in no wise 4 for 6 opposed 

6 other, that ye may not v are 8 of which kind are 

9 omit adultery {according to the best authorities) 10 sorcery 

11 hatreds {or enmities) 12 strife 13 rivalry 

14 outbursts of wrath 15 factions 16 divisions n parties 

18 omit murders {according to M and B.) 19 omit the 

20 I forewarn you 21 as I did tell you before 22 who 

28 benignity 24 faithfulness 25 self-control 26 Now 

27 of Christ Jesus 28 did crucify 29 its 80 passions 

81 by 32 become vainglorious 

Ver. 16. Paul returns to the warning in ver. rule and direction of the Holy Spirit who is the 
13, not to abuse the freedom for an occasion to higher conscience and controlling principle of 
the flesh. — Walk by the Spirit, according to the the Christian. Comp. iv. 6; Rom. viii. 2. — And 



p Phil. ii. 3. 



Chap. V. 16-25.] 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 



61 



ye shall in no wise fulfil the lust of the flesh. The 
Holy Spirit and the sinful flesh are so antagonis- 
tic and irreconcilable that to follow the one is to 
resist and defeat the other. The ' flesh ' is here, 
as in vers. 13, 17, 19, and often in Paul (also John 
iii. 6), used in a moral sense, and designates the 
fallen, carnal, sinful nature of man. It is not con- 
fined to sensuality, but embraces also the evil dis- 
positions of the mind (ver. 20). It must not be 
confounded with 'body;' it uses and abuses the 
'->ody as its organ, but the body is good in itself, 
nd intended to become the organ of the regener- 
ate spirit of man and the temple of the Holy Spirit 
of God. 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20 ; comp. iii. 16 ; 2 Cor. 
vi. 16. (Comp. Excursus on Rom. vii., and the 
elaborate discussion of Wieseler on Gal. iii. 13, 
pp. 442-455.) The antagonism between the car- 
nal nature of man and the Holy Spirit of God is 
one of the fundamental ideas in Paul's psychol- 
ogy. The Gnostics and Manichaeans carried it to 
the extreme of dualism between mind and mat- 
ter ; but this is a heretical perversion. Paul's 
antagonism is moral, not physical, and rests on 
the recognition of the body as substantially good 
and redeemable by the same power of God. which 
redeems the soul. 

Ver. 17. For the flesh lusteth against the 
Spirit, and the Spirit [strives] against the flesh. 
There is a conflict between reason and appetite, 
between conscience and depravity, between the 
higher and lower aspirations, between heaven and 
hell, going on in every man who is roused to a 
sense of duty and responsibility ; but this conflict 
becomes most serious under the awakening influ- 
ence of the Holy Spirit (who is meant here), and 
results in the triumph of one principle and the 
defeat of the other. Comp. Rom. vii. 4 ff . ' The 
strife of the Spirit against the flesh is an infallible 
token of regeneration and a state of grace, and is 
distinguished from the strife of the mere powers 
of reason in this that the former always wins the 
victory' (Starke). 'The state of the believer is 
conflict, but with final victory' (Ellicott.) The 
natural man may acquire a Stoic virtue, and 
achieve a conquest over his lower appetites, but 
not over his pride, which rises all the more pow- 
erful on the ruin of vulgar passions. 

Ver. 18. But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are 
not under (the) law. Comp. Rom. viii. 14: 'As 
many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the 
sons of God.' The Spirit ' leads ' and guides men 
as moral and responsible beings, but does not 
drive or force them ; hence it is possible to resist 
and to quench the Spirit (1 Thess. v. 19), to grieve 
Him (Eph. iv. 30), and even to blaspheme Him 
and thus to commit the unpardonable sin (Matt, 
xii. 32). Paul's conversion was sudden and radi- 
cal, but not forced ; he might have ' kicked against 
the goads ' (Acts xxvi. 14), although it was 'hard ' 
(not impossible) for Him to do so. 'Ye are not 
under the law,' under the dominion of the law 
which threatens death and keeps the conscience 
in constant terror. The law is a restraint of the 
flesh ; to be free from the flesh is to be free from 
the restraint and curse of the law. The Spirit 
leads us into the fulfilment of the law of love (ver. 
14), and the law ceases to be a yoke for trembling 
slaves, and becomes a rule for loving and grateful 
children and freemen. Luther : ' So great is the 
power and dominion of the Spirit that the law 
cannot accuse the godly. For Christ is our right- 
eousness whom we apprehend by faith. He is 
without sin, and therefore the law cannot accuse 



Him. As long as we cleave fast unto Him, we 
are led by the Spirit and are free from the law.' 

Vers. 19-21. Now the works of the flesh are 
manifest, of which kind (or such as) are. The 
practical test of the fruits by which a tree is 
known (comp. Matt. vii. 16). 'Manifest,' plain 
and obvious to everybody. Paul does not aim at 
a complete and systematic catalogue of sins, but 
singles out those to which the Galatians from 
former habits and surroundings were specially ex- 
posed. He mentions (1) sins of sensuality or 
sins against ourselves: adultery [omitted in the 
best MSS.], fornication, uncleanness, lascivious- 
ness (comp. 2 Cor. xii. 21); these were so com- 
mon among all the heathen that no ancient mor- 
alist, not even Socrates, or Plato, or Cicero, 
absolutely condemned them (except adultery, be- 
cause it interferes with the rights of a husband), 
and that they were even sanctioned by religion 
and connected with the worship of Venus or 
Aphrodite. The difference between Christian and 
heathen morality in this respect is like the differ- 
ence between day and night Paul condemns for- 
nication as a prostitution and desecration of the 
temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. vi. 15-20; iii. 
16). (2) Spiritual sins against God, which are 
likewise characteristic of heathenism : idolatry, 
the worship of false gods (and all idolatrous prac- 
tices), and sorcery, or magic, ' a secret tampering 
with the powers of evil,' usually associated with 
open idolatry (comp. Acts xix. 19; Rev. xxi. 8). 
(3) Sins against our neighbor, or various viola- 
tions of brotherly love in feeling and action : 
hatreds (or enmities), strife, rivalry (or emula- 
tion), outbursts of wrath, factions, divisions (not 
seditions), parties (not heresies, in the later doc- 
trinal sense), envyings, murders (comp. 2 Cor. 
xii. 20; Rom. i. 29). 'Murders' is omitted by 
the best MSS. (4) Sins of intemperance, very 
common among the Celtic nations : drunkenness, 
revellings, and such like (comp. Rom. xiii. 13 ; 
1 Pet. iv. 3). 

Ver. 21. Of which I forewarn you, as I did tell 
you before, on my former visits (i. 9 ; iv. 13, 16), 
when I preached to you the gospel which is death 
to all forms of immorality, and demands conform- 
ity to the ho'y character of Christ. They who do 
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 
unless they be converted and sanctified. A hard 
and terrible word, yet most true (comp. I Cor. vi. 
9, 10; xv. 50; Rev. xxii. 15). Heaven is the 
abode of absolute purity, and nothing unclean can 
enter therein. ' Without sanctification no man 
shall see the Lord.' Heb. xii. 14. 

Vers. 22, 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, benignity, good- 
ness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance. A string 
of pearls. One ' fruit,' in distinction of the many 
'works of the flesh,' indicates the unity of the 
spiritual graces which are comprehended in love 
(ver. 14 ; comp. Eph. v. 9 ' the fruit of the light,' 
and v. 1 1 ' the unfruitful works of darkness).' ' The 
fruit is produced by the grace of God ; the works 
of the flesh spring from ourselves' (Chrysostom). 
The list differs widely from pagan catalogues of 
virtues which have no place for love, humility, and 
meekness, joy and peace, nor any of the more deli- 
cate graces of the Spirit of God. There are four 
groups : (1.) 'Love,' the fundamental Christian 
grace which comprehends all others and 'holds 
heaven and earth in its embrace.' (2.) ' Joy ' 
and ' peace,' the fundamental state of the Chris- 
tian, his inward happiness, cheerfulness, and tran- 



62 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. VI. i-io. 



quillity 
the rec( 



which results from the remission of sin, 
the reconciliation to God, and the prospect of 
heaven. No one can be truly happy in this world 
who is not sure of eternal happiness in the world 
to come. (3.) ' Longsuffering,' 'benignity,' 'good- 
ness,' 'faithfulness' (or fidelity), 'meekness,' are 
various forms of unselfish charity towards our 
fellow-men. 'Longsuffering' denotes patient en- 
durance under injuries ; 'benignity,' kindly dispo- 
sition ; ' goodness,' active benevolence ; ' faithful- 
ness ' (not 'faith' towards God), is here fidelity, 
trustfulness in our dealings with others ('love be- 
lieveth all things,' I Cor. xiii. 7), in opposition to 
suspicion and distrust ; ' meekness ' (or gentle- 
ness), a mild and patient temper which bears and 
overcomes injuries (comp. Matt. v. 5 ; Ps. xxxvii. 
11). (4.) ' Self-control ' (temperance) refers to our 
conduct towards ourselves, and embraces moral 
self-government and moderation in all things, in 
opposition to carnal self-indulgence and intem- 
perance in eating and drinking (comp. Acts xxiv. 
25; 1 Cor. vii. 9). Luther: 'Jerome expounds 
this of virginity only, as though they that are mar- 
ried could not be chaste ; or as though the Apostle 
did write these things only to virgins. In the first 
and second chapter to Titus, he warns all bish- 
ops, young women, and married folks, both man 
and wife, to be chaste and pure.' — Against such 
(things) there is no law (of restraint). The law 
forbids and restrains sin and vice, but not the 
works of the Spirit, on the contrary it enjoins 
them ; comp. ver. 18, ' If ye are led by the Spirit, 
ye are not under (the restraining and condemning 
power of) the law ; ' and I Tim. i. 9, ' Law is not 
made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and 
unruly, for the ungodly and sinners.' False inter- 
pretations : ' Such persons the law does not con- 
demn ; ' or ' Such persons need no law.' The 
Greek word for ' such ' is neuter, and refers to 
the preceding virtues; as 'such like,' ver. 21, re- 
fers to the preceding vices. 

Ver. 24. Now they that are of Christ Jesus 
did crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts. 
Union with Christ is a complete separation from 



sin ; hence the baptismal formula of renunciation 
of the flesh, the world, and the devil, and devotion 
to the service of Christ. Conversion is death of 
the old man and birth of the new. 'Passions' 
are passive, ' lusts ' active, vices. The destruc- 
tion of the old man of sin is an imitation of the 
crucifixion, as the birth of the new man of right- 
eousness corresponds to the resurrection of Christ 
(comp. ii. 20; vi. 14 ; Rom. vi. 4-6; Col. iii. 5). 
The Greek aorist represents this ethical and sub- 
jective crucifixion as an act accomplished in the 
past at the time of conversion and baptism (comp. 
iii. 27); but in the nature of the case it is con- 
tinued from day to day, as long as sin and temp- 
tation remain. 

Ver. 25. If we live by the Spirit, let us also 
walk by the Spirit. Application to the Galatians, 
Paul included. To live and to walk are related 
here as condition and action, or as the inward 
and the outward life. If we live in the higher 
element of the Holy Spirit, we must also show it 
by a corresponding conduct (comp. ver. 16 ; Rom. 
viii. 5, 6). The dative in Greek here denotes the 
rule or direction (as vi. 16). ' By,' in English, has 
both the instrumental and the normal force. 

Ver. 26. Let us not become vainglorious, etc. 
This is the opposite of humility (Phil. ii. 3). ' St. 
Paul works round again to the subject of ver. 15, 
and repeats his warning. It is clear that some- 
thing had occurred which alarmed him on this 
point ' (Lightfoot). Vanity and quarrelsomeness, 
self-exaltation, and self-seeking were among the 
darling sins of the Gauls. But as Luther says, 
' love of vainglory is a common vice all the world 
over in all conditions. In the smallest village 
there are some peasants who deem themselves 
wiser and better than the rest, and like to be 
looked up to. But nowhere is this vice so harm- 
ful as in the officers of the church.' Calvin re- 
marks : ' It is not lawful for us to glory but in 
God alone. Every other kind of glorying is pure 
vanity. Mutual provocations and envyings are 
the daughters of ambition.' Ver. 26 is the con- 
necting link between ch. v. and ch. vi. 



CHAPTER VI. 



I. Miscellaneous Exhortations, vers. 1-10. II. Autograph Warning against the Juda- 
izers, vers. 11— 17. III. Concluding Benediction, ver. 18. 

Miscellaneous Exhortations. 

Chapter VI. 1-10. 

The Apostle exhorts the Galatians to deal gently with a weak brother, to bear the brother's bur- 
den, to be on their guard against conceit, to be liberal to their teachers, and to persevere in doing 



1 "ORETHREN, 1 a if a man be overtaken in a fault, 2 ye 6 which 3 ™fj™ es 
-L) are spiritual, restore such a one c in the spirit of meek- ,5 T "cor. ii. 15; 

2 ness; considering 4 thyself, d lest thou also be tempted. e Bear, i'coriv.2.; 



1 even 2 in (or by) any transgression 

4 looking {each one individually') to 



' i Cor. vii. 5 ; x. 12 
Rom. xv. 1 ; chap. 
m: 1 Thess. v. 14. 



Chap. VI. i-ic] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 63 

3 ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil 5 ■''the law of Christ. For / J^*™-. 
"if a man think himself to be something, when A he is nothing, 6 f^'s. 8; 

4 he deceiveth himself. But 'let every 7 man prove his own j> hniv - 
work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and^ f c ?r'. X viii 3; 

5 *not in another. 8 For 'every 9 man shall bear his own bur- %] ch 

6 den. m Let 10 him that is taught in the word communicate 21 
unto him that teacheth in all good things. 

7 



2 Cor. iii. f 

:Cor!xi.2S 
2 Cor. xiii. , 
h See Luke 



Be not deceived ; ° God is not mocked : for ^whatsoever a 

8 man soweth, that shall he also reap. q For he that soweth to « Co'r. i'ii. s 
his 12 flesh shall of 13 the flesh reap corruption ; but he that sow- ? 7 ; 1 cor. 
eth to 14 the Spirit shall of 15 the Spirit reap life everlasting. 16 " > cor'.vi. 9 

9 And 17 r let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season ° l oh 
10 we shall reap, "if we faint not. ' As we have therefore 18 op- 
portunity, * let us do good unto all inert} 1 * especially unto them *- ob iv g 
who are 20 of * the household of faith. SuTif ' 

6 ye shall fulfil {according to another reading) 6 being nothing 7 each x. 12 ; Re 

8 his ground for boasting {or glorying) in regard to himself alone, and not jUmes i'ii. 

another {or, his neighbor) 9 each 10 But let r '/^or. xv 

11 impart {lit., go shares with) 12 unto his own 18 from 5.S;2The 



Luke xvi. 
5 ; Rom. ii. 
; 2 Cor. ix. 



14 unto 15 from 16 eternal 

18 So then as {or while) we have 19 omit 7nen 

Rev. ii. 10. t Johnix. 4; xii. 35. u 1 Thess. v. 15 ; 1 Tin 



"But 
20 to the members 

Eph. i 



18 ; Tit. iii. 8. 



Ver. 1. Spiritual life (v. 25, 26) must show 
itself in spiritual action, especially in charity, 
meekness, and modesty. — Brethren. A word of 
love more potent than argument. — Even if a man 
be overtaken or surprised, before he is aware of 
it or able to resist. Sins of precipitancy. We 
ought to take this charitable view of our neigh- 
bor's trespasses as far as possible. If ' even ' be 
connected with the verb (caught in the very act), 
an aggravation of the offence would be implied, 
but this is not consistent with the context. — Ye 
that are spiritual, or ' Ye the spiritual ones,' who 
are possessed and animated by the Holy Spirit. 
This refers back to chap. v. 25, and especially to 
that part of the congregation which remained 
faithful to the teaching of Paul. Comp. ' Ye are 
strong,' Rom. xv. 1. True charity is a test of 
spirituality. True strength and freedom show 
themselves in bearing and forbearing. — In the 
spirit of meekness, stronger than 'in a meek 
spirit.' Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 21, ' in love and a 
spirit of meekness.' — Looking to thyself, taking 
heed each one of you. An individualizing transi- 
tion from the plural to the singular which makes 
the charge more direct. 

Ver. 2. Bear ye one another's burdens, all sorts 
of troubles, cares, errors, and infirmities. Sin 
and error should be resisted and rebuked in a 
spirit of charity and meekness ; but with all our 
•faults we ought to esteem and love one another 
as brethren in Christ. (Comp. Rom. xv. 1.) — 
And thus ye shall (completely) fulfil the law of 
Christ, namely, the law of love. (Comp. v. 14 ; 
Rom. xiii. 8 ; John xiii. 34 ; 1 John iii. 23.) The 
E. V. is based on another reading which expresses 
the imperative, instead of the future. The au- 
thorities are almost equally divided. 



Ver. 3. The best motive of forbearance to- 
wards others is the sense of our own weakness. — 
Being nothing, notwithstanding his conceit. Every 
man is apt to overestimate himself ; humility is 
one of the rarest, but sweetest graces. ' In Chris- 
tian morality self-esteem is vanity, and vanity is 
nothingness.' 

Ver. 4. If a man desires to find cause for 
boasting, let him test and examine his own ac- 
tions, and not contrast his fancied virtues with 
the faults of his neighbor. But every sincere self- 
examination results in humiliation. — His own 
work, collective and emphatic : the aggregate of 
his actions. 

Ver. 5. For each man shall hear his own bur- 
den. No contradiction to ver. 2. Those who bear 
their own burden are best able to sympathize with 
others and to share in their burdens. Those who 
pray most for themselves pray most for others. 
' Each is to prove his own work and not to leave 
it to be accomplished by others, and at the same 
time each is to help all others as often as he can 
find opportunity. And the opportunity to bless 
others is itself one of the greatest of blessings.' 
Paul is fond of paradoxes and antithetic expres- 
sions of complementary truths (comp. Phil. ii. 12, 
13 ; 2 Cor. xii. 10 ; 'when I am weak, then I am 
strong '). 

Ver. 6. Let him that is taught (or, orally in- 
structed) in the word (of God) share with'him 
that teacheth, in all good things (temporal pos- 
sessions of every kind). Injunction of the duty 
of the congregation to support liberally their 
teachers. Their relation is a partnership, a com- 
munion of interests. They are mutually depend- 
ent and helpful, and should share each other'" 
blessings and burdens. Temporal support is but 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. [Chap. VI. 



a small return for spiritual blessings. The Gala- 
tians needed this exhortation very much. They 
were asked to contribute to the suffering churches 
in Judaea (l Cor. xvi. i), but we do not learn that 
they did it. The niggardly spirit of the Gauls 
was proverbial. 1 Paul set a noble example of 
self-denial in supporting himself as a tent-maker, 
preaching the gospel by day and working at his 
trade by night ! Only by exception he received 
contributions from his beloved Philippians. And 
he was never weary to take up collections in his 
poor congregations for the support of the still 
poorer brethren in Judaea. But as our Saviour 
laid down the principle ' that the laborer is worthy 
of his hire' (Lukex. 7), so the Apostle repeatedly 
urges upon his readers the duty of supporting 
their teachers. See 1 Thess. ii. 6, 9 ; 1 Cor. ix. 
4 ff. ; 2 Cor. xi. 7 ff. ; Phil. iv. 10 ff. ; I Tim. v. 
17, 18. The less a minister says on the pulpit 
about his salary the better ; but sometimes duty 
requires plain talk on this delicate subject. The 
passage implies that the church ought to be sup- 
ported by voluntary contributions of the people, 
not by taxation, which checks the exercise of liber- 
ality, and is apt to create indifference and dislike. 
Ver. 7. Enforces the duty of liberality. It car- 
ries in itself its own exceeding great reward, for 
'it is more blessed to give than to receive,' and 
sows the seed for a rich harvest in heaven ; while 
illiberality and stinginess belittles and beggars the 
man here, and lets him go empty on the great day 
of reward. — Be not deceived. How many deceive 
themselves and imagine that they can withhold 
from their minister his just dues without incurring 
the displeasure of God. — God is not mocked, can- 
not be treated with contempt without provoking 
his righteous punishment. — Whatsoever a man 
soweth, that shall he also reap. (Comp. 2 Cor. 
ix. 6.) A proverbial expression (Job iv. 8), found 
also among classical writers (Aristotle, Cicero, 
etc.), but here spiritualized and applied to the 

1 Livy calls the Galatians ' avidissima rapieudi gens ' 

(xxxviii. 2 7 ). 



future reward and punishment. The present life 
is the seed time, the future life the harvest. Who 
sows grain will reap grain, who sows tares will 
reap tares ; who sows plentifully will reap plenti- 
fully, who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. 
Those who keep this great truth constantly before 
their eyes will redeem every hour and use every 
opportunity to do good. 

Ver. 8. He that soweth unto (upon) his own 
flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption ; but he 
that soweth unto (upon) the Spirit shall from the 
Spirit reap life eternal. Ver. 7 speaks of the kind 
of seed sown ('whatsoever'), ver. 8 of the kind 
of soil on which the seed is sown. The soil of 
the flesh, that is of corrupt human nature, yields 
blighted and rotten fruit ; the soil of the Holy 
Spirit yields sweet and healthy fruit, even eternal 
happiness and peace. 

Ver. 9. But let us not be weary (lose heart) 
in well doing. Not only in regard to the duty of 
liberality, but in every good work. (Comp. 2 
Thess. iii. 13.) 'Fatigue is not weariness. In 
well-doing we are more apt to be weary than fa- 
tigued ' (Riddle). — In due season we shall reap, 
in the time of harvest (comp. 1 Tim. ii. 6 ; vi. 15 ; 
Tit. i. 3). 'The due season is God's season' 
(Riddle). If we faint not, ' as husbandmen over- 
come with heat and fatigue.' (Comp. James v. 7.) 

Ver. 10. So then as we have opportunity (lit., 
a seasonable time). Each opportunity for doing 
good is an angel that offers us his services. If 
neglected, it may never return. Let us do good 
unto all, especially unto the members of the house- 
hold of the faith. To do good is the great end 
of life : first and most to our home, our kindred, 
our country, our church, our brethren in the faith, 
then to all men good and bad. Charity begins at 
home, but does not stay at home ; it goes to the 
ends of the earth. The church is often repre- 
sented as the house of God (1 Tim. iii. 15 ; 1 Pet. 
iv. 17), and believers as one family, as 'fellow 
citizens with the saints, and members of the house- 
hold of God' (Eph. ii. 19). 



Autograph Warning against the Judaizers^ 
Chapter VI. 11-18. 



Here the Apostle takes the pen from his clerk, and with his own hand sums up the lessons of the 
Epistle in a few terse, telling sentences against the teachers of circumcision (11-17), and concludes 
with the Benediction (ver. 18). 



Y 



E see how large a letter a I have written 2 unto you with 



13 



in the flesh, a they constrain you to be circumcised ; b only lest a J^p- »• 3, 
they should c suffer persecution for 3 the cross of Christ. For * g^v.' \l 
neither they themselves 4 who are circumcised keep the law ; 
but 5 desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in 
14 your flesh. d But God forbid 6 that I should glory, save in the d ™ h ii; - 3- 



See in what large letters (characters) 

I write {the epistolary aorist in Gr.) 

only that they may not be persecuted on account of 

they 6 But as for myself let it never happen 



not even they 



Chap. VI. ii-i8.] THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 

cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 7 the world is 8 e cru- 

15 cified unto me, and I unto the world. For / in Christ Jesus 9 
neither circumcision availeth 10 any thing, nor uncircumcision, 

16 but "a new creature. "And as many as walk u 'according to 
this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon k the Israel 
of God. 

17 From henceforth let no man trouble me : f or 1 1 bear in my 
body the marks of the Lord 12 Jesus. 

18 Brethren, "'the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your 
spirit. 13 Amen. 

1 Unto the Galatians, written from Rome. 14 

7 or through which {the cross) 8 hath been 

9 Many old authorities omit in Christ Jesus {probably inserted from v. 6) 
10 is u The preponderating evidence is for the future shall walk 

12 omit the Lord. ' 18 brethren {this word is emphatically put last) 

14 A11 error of transcribers. See Introduction. 



65 



chap, ii 
/ 1 Cor. 



S 2 Cor 
h Ps. 

/ Phil, i 



Ver. 11. See in what large letters (or charac- 
ters) I write unto you with mine own hand. Not 

' how large a letter' (E. V.). This would require 
the accusative in Greek, not the dative ( ' with ' or 
'in what large letters'). It refers to the hand- 
writing, not to the contents. Some understand it 
of awkward, ill-formed characters, and trace them 
to Paul's inexperience in Greek (?), or to want of 
mechanical skill, or to defective eyesight, or to 
bodily suffering at the time. But the Greek 
{vtiAI'kois) refers to large size only, and may indi- 
cate the emphasis laid on these concluding sen- 
tences (corresponding to our use of underscor- 
ing), or a habitual bold hand which is often ex- 
pressive of energy and strong conviction. We 
have no autographs of the Apostles ; the oldest 
manuscripts date from the fourth century, and are 
written in large or uncial characters. Paul em- 
ployed usually an amanuensis or copyist (as Ter- 
tius, who wrote the Epistle to the Romans from 
dictation, Rom. xvi. 22), but added with his own 
hand a closing benediction, or some sentences as 
a special mark of affection, or as a precaution 
against forgers of letters in his name (2 Thess. ii. 
2; iii. 17, 18; 1 Cor. xvi. 21-24; Col. iv. 18; 
Rom. xvi. 25-27). 'I write' (lit. 'I wrote' or 
'have written') is often used in epistolary style 
from the standpoint of the recipient. It may re- 
fer to the concluding part only, or to the whole 
Epistle. The former is more probable from his 
habit of dictating or sending a copy of his letters. 
Ver. 12. As many as desire to make a fair 
show in the flesh (in the sphere of the flesh), they 
(and no others) constrain you to be circumcised 
only that they may not be persecuted on account 
of the cross 1 of Christ. They display their zeal 
for external or carnal ordinances by forcing cir- 
cumcision upon you, that thereby they may escape 
the scandal and persecution of the cross of Christ, 
to which they would expose themselves among 
their unconverted Jewish countrymen by aban- 
doning the law. (Comp. v. 11 ; 1 Cor. i. 24.) 
Circumcision and the cross, like works and faith, 
are antagonistic principles, if they are set up as 

" The Greek ra oraupw is the dative of the occasion or 
reason, as in Rom. xi. 20, 30; 2 Cor. ii. 13 (Gr.). 



conditions of salvation. The zeal of the Judaizers 
is traced to a selfish motive to please men and to 
avoid suffering. The Pharisees loved to pray 
standing in the synagogues and in the corners of 
the streets, that they might be seen of men (Matt, 
vi- S). 

Ver. 13. For not even they who are circum- 
cised keep the law (in all its details, comp. v. 3), 
but they desire to have you circumcised, that they 
may glory in your flesh. The advocates of cir- 
cumcision are not sincere in their zeal, but want to 
gratify their vanity in making proselytes. (Comp. 
Matt, xxiii. 15.) 

Ver. 14. But as for myself, let it never happen 
(or, far be it) that I should glory (in any thing) 
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through 
which (the cross) the world hath been crucified to 
me and I to the world. The .cross, as the mate- 
rial instrument of capital punishment of criminals 
and slaves, is the most ignominious of gibbets ; 
the cross as the symbol of Christ's passsion sig- 
nifies the most glorious of facts and truths, name- 
ly, the atonement for the sins of the world. The 
cross of Christ was a stumbling-block to the Jews 
and foolishness to the heathen, and is so still to 
the unconverted man, because it is death to the 
flesh, the world, and the devil. It destroys all 
self-righteousness and boasting. It is the deepest 
humiliation of self, the strongest exhibition of 
man's guilt, which required even the sacrifice of 
the Son of God, and of God's love which made 
that sacrifice, and the strongest stimulus to grat- 
itude for such amazing love. Hence Paul de- 
termined to know nothing but Christ and Him 
crucified (1 Cor. i. 23 ; ii. 2 ; Phil. iii. 7 ff.)._ Christ 
crucified for our sins and raised for our justifica- 
tion was his ruling passion, his one idea which 
changed his life and by which he converted oth- 
ers. In the cross of Christ is contained the whole 
redemption. ' Through which,' the cross, the in- 
strument of Christ's crucifixion, and my crucifix- 
ion with Him (ii. 20). Others translate 'through 
whom,' namely, Christ ; but this would rather be 
expressed by ' in whom.' ' The world ' alienated 
from God with all its vanities and sinful desires. 
So the word is often used by Paul and John. The 



66 



THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. TChap. VI. 11-18. 



world has lost all its charm and attraction for the 
Christian, and the Christian has lost all his appe- 
tite for the world ; they are dead to each other ; 
old things have passed away, Christ is all in all. 

Ver. 15. For [in Christ Jesus] neither circum- 
cision is any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new 
creature. Comp. v. 6 and note, and 1 Cor. vii. 
19. All external distinctions are lost in Christ, 
and the new creature is everything. In all these 
passages the first clause is the same, but the sec- 
id differs, namely :- 



Circumcision is nothing, 
and uncircumcision is 
nothing, but 



faith which worketh by 
love (v. 6) ; a new 
creature (vi. 15) ; keep- 

I ing the command- 
ments of God (1 Cor. 

[ vii. 19). 
' A new creature.' The Greek may mean the act 
of creation, or the thing created. Here the lat- 
ter, as the result of a creating act of God. 2 Cor. 
v. 17 : 'If any man is in Christ, he is a new creat- 
ure ; the old things have passed away ; behold, 
they are become new.' (Comp. also Eph. ii. 10, 
15; iv. 24.) The phrase ' new creature ' was com- 
mon among Jewish writers to designate a moral 
change or conversion to Judaism (= proselyte) ; 
but in Paul it has a far deeper spiritual meaning. 
The remarks of Luther on this verse are worth 
quoting as a characteristic specimen of his famous 
Commentary, which is not so much an exposition 
as an expansion and application of Paul's Epistle 
to the controversies of the sixteenth century. 
' This is,' he says, ' a wonderful kind of speech 
which Paul here uses, when he says, " Neither 
circumcision or uncircumcision availeth any thing." 
It may seem that he should rather have said, 
" Either circumcision or uncircumcision availeth 
somewhat ; " seeing these are two contrary things. 
But now he denies that either the one or the other 
is of any consequence. As if he should have said, 
Ye must mount up higher ; for circumcision and 
uncircumcision are things of no such importance, 
that they are able to obtain righteousness before 
God. True it is, that they are contrary the one to 
the other ; but this is nothing as touching Chris- 
tian righteousness, which is not earthly, but heav- 
enly, and therefore it consists not in corporal 
things. Therefore, whether thou be circumcised 
or uncircumcised, it is all one thing ; for in Christ 
Jesus neither the one nor the other availeth any- 
thing at all. The Jews were greatly offended 
when they heard that circumcision availed nothing. 
They easily granted that uncircumcision availed 
nothing ; but they could not abide to hear that so 
much should be said of circumcision, for they 
fought even unto blood for the defence of the law 
and circumcision. The Papists also at this day do 
vehemently contend for the maintenance of their 
traditions as touching the eating of flesh, single 
life, holy days, and such other ; and they excom- 
municate and curse us, who teach that in Christ 
Jesus these things do nothing avail. But Paul says 



that we must have another thing which is much 
more excellent and precious, whereby we may ob- 
tain righteousness before God. In Christ Jesus, 
says he, neither circumcision, nor uncircumcision, 
neither single life nor marriage, neither meat nor 
fasting, do any whit avail. Meat makes us not 
acceptable before God. We are neither the bet- 
ter by abstaining, nor the worse by eating. All 
these things, yea the whole world, with all the 
laws and righteousness thereof, avail nothing to 
justification.' 

Ver. 16. And as many as shall walk according 
to this rule, etc. Rising above all earthly distinc- 
tions tb the height of Christian contemplation, 
Paul pronounces a benediction to all who walk 
according to the rule indicated in ver. 15. The 
Greek term for ' rule ' (canon) is the same which 
is now used for the Sacred Scriptures as the rule 
of the Christian faith and practice. — Peace be on 
them and mercy. ' Peace ' with God and with 
themselves, the precious fruit of the atonement 
and the greatest Christian blessing, which the 
world cannot give nor take away (John xiv. 27). 
' Mercy ' is coupled with peace (1 Tim. i. 2 ; 2 Tim. 
i. 2 ; 2 John 3). In the other Pauline Epistles 
we have 'grace and peace' in the salutation. — 
And (namely) upon the Israel of God, the true 
children of Israel, the people of God, as distinct 
from the mere carnal descendants. The believing 
Christians generally (not the Jewish Christians 
exclusively) are meant (comp. iii. 29 ; iv. 26; Rom. 
ix. 6-8). 

Ver. 17. From henceforth let no man trouble 
me. Directed against the Judaizing troublers. — 
For I hear in my body the marks of Jesus. ' Marks ' 
(stigmata) were usually letters burnt upon the arm 
or forehead of slaves, soldiers, criminals, also 
devotees of a divinity, to indicate the master, the 
captain, the crime, the divinity. (Comp. Rev. vii. 
3 ; xiii. 16). Paul means the wounds and scars 
of persecution and suffering which he endured in 
the service of his Master, and which proved him 
to be a faithful bondman of Christ. (Comp. 2 
Cor. xi. 23-25.) They were his credentials and 
his trophies. ' Of Jesus,' as the owner, the mas- 
ter (the genitive of possession). Much Romish 
superstition has been built upon the term 'stig- 
mata,' as signifying the prints of Christ's wounds, 
as in the case of St. Francis of Assisi. 

Ver. 18. The last sentence of this polemic 
Epistle is a benediction, and the last word is a 
word of affection, brethren. It takes the sting 
out of the severity. With all your faults, the 
Apostle means to say, I love you still, and the 
very rebuke was dictated by my deep concern for 
your welfare. 

Thus concludes this Epistle so full of polemic 
fire and zeal, yet more full of grace, — free, sov- 
ereign grace, justifying, sanctifying grace, and 
full of forgiving love even to ungrateful pupils ; 
an Epistle for the time, and an Epistle for all 
times. 



&<< 



